This summer has been an unusual one considering the last dry few years, with all the moisture we have been receiving. If you have lived in the Pikes Peak region long you know along with our thunderstorms, we often receive unwanted hail. Our region is part of what is called “Hail Alley”. Hail Alley extends from southeast Alberta, Canada, into Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. The most hail-prone city in North America is Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Living and gardening in the Pikes Peak Region requires skill, knowledge, luck and a lot of patience. Not only do we have to deal with drought conditions at times, but when it does rain it is sometimes severe weather. You can garden here and live with the hail we receive if you are proactive and erect some sort of hail protection structures.
A severe hailstorm to gardeners can mean almost certain death to a vegetable garden if it comes late in the growing season and you have no hail protection. Hail protection can range from lying a sheet across your plants, hardware cloth, hoop tunnels, screen lying across your cages to commercial made ones you can buy on the Internet. Basically, all you want to do is protect your plants, but still allow air, water and sunshine to penetrate.
My primary defense against hail is the “Three Season Raised Bed Garden (TSRBG)” made by one of our master gardeners Larry Stebbins. It is multi-functional. In the spring it allows me to start planting early, but when the thunderstorms roll in and the hail starts to fall it provides outstanding hail protection. It is made from PVC piping and 6 mil U.V. treated plastic for extended seasonal usage. If you are interested in one contact Larry Stebbins at ppugardens.org.
My secondary defense against hail incorporates some of the same principles of the TSRBG. I use the PVC piping for the structure but use bird netting as a means of protection. The bird netting not only keeps the birds away from my berries, but also deflects hail. The bird netting is also U.V. treated so it will last a long time in the garden. The PVC piping I just stick in the ground and drape the netting over the piping and attach it with some metal fasteners.
If you happened to receive some damaging hail and your garden looks like someone shot with a machine gun don’t despair. You still have time to salvage some of your garden. Your root crops may be mature enough to harvest. If not, and there is still some green at the top, just remove the damaged parts and hopefully your plants will have enough time to recuperate. Leafy plants, like lettuce, remove the outer leaves and hope for new growth. If no new growth in about two weeks, replant the plants for a fall garden.
Contributed by Rich Young, Colorado Master Gardener. For answers to your horticultural questions, contact the Master Gardener Help Desk at 636.8921 or CSUmg2@elpasoco.com. Photos courtesy of Rich Young.
September 12, 2010 at 7:44 am
I have used this technique this summer with success, not the success that I hoped for but success. I cannot seem to find the UV treated plastic though in anything less that 24′ wide sizes and of course my untreated is brittle and cracking. Not very good for late year gardening! ;-) Where would you recommend that I look for the uv treated plastic? Thanks for any help you can give.
September 12, 2010 at 8:18 am
I checked around and found that Home Depot has a variety of the 6 mil UV treated plastic sheeting rolls. They have a 20’X100′ and a 10’X100′. There are sites on the internet also, but I found Home Depot to be more convenient. Thanks for visiting our site.
April 5, 2011 at 12:01 pm
Well, I guess I have a couple of silly questions. The last couple of Junes, we have gotten SEVERE hail storms, with the hail golf ball sized and very forcefull. Both times, it has just shredded our roof, siding, and of course trees and garden. I can’t imagine how 6mil plastic could possibly deflect this type of violent hail, is it really possible? Also, I’ve just always been a bit confused with the UV rating. Does this mean that the sun rays are deflected? Don;t we want the sun rays to hit our plants? I would be so appreciative if you could clarify this for me! Thanks!
April 5, 2011 at 9:01 pm
Katherine you raised some very interesting questions in reference to hail protection for the garden. Golf ball sized hail as you have experienced plays havoc on a lot of things, just not your vegetable garden. To increase the amount of hail protection for your hoop tunnel,and ultimately your vegetables, you can attach a sheet of polycarbonate to the top of the hoop tunnel. The higher UV rating for the plastic sheeting means the longer it will endure the environmental conditions. The UV sheeting does not deflect the sun rays.
April 5, 2019 at 8:12 am
You can actually buy hail netting, or use 30% shade cloth. Really helps and the weave is denser than bird netting. It will also help with our strong sun light. I live in Castle Rock. Most people aren’t aware that on a flat piece of ground the UV strength increases with altitude as listed. Under clear sky conditions, the observed increases in irradiance with altitude (altitude effect) of the daily totals of global irradiance are 8%±2% per 1000 m (total irradiance), 9%±2% per 1000 m (UVA irradiance) and 18%±2% per 1000 m (erythemal effective irradiance) during the summer.
So with our long days, I’ve had good success with the 30% shade cloth. Plants get plenty of sunlight. The don’t bolt as early, and it helps protect against hail. Make sure you get the knitted variety. You have to buy it on line, as 60% is the least shade value I’ve seen in the stores.
June 18, 2019 at 9:43 am
What bird netting can be used for anti hail
Need a source