GB2257006A - Horticultural cloche. - Google Patents

Abstract

A horticultural cloche for protection of seeded drills, seedlings and plants, having a bell 1, made of transparent plastic material, with watering holes 2 in a depression in the top and ventilation holes 3 in the side walls. The bell is tapered slightly along its height to facilitate compact storage of the bells when not in use. The ventilation holes have provision for being partially closed for control of ventilation. There is an anchor piece 4 for pinning down the bell to the ground. The anchor pieces have 'eyes' which enable the bells to be additionally secured when they are arranged in a row, by threading a lanyard through the 'eyes' and pegging the ends to the ground. <IMAGE>

Description

HORTICULTURAL BELL The invention relates to a horticultural bell.

The nearest equivalent to the bell are garden cloches.

There is a variety of cloches differing in their construction, materials used to make them and their specific use.

Cloches are generally regarded as very useful items of gardener's equipment yet their use is not ubiquitous, as might be expected, because, whatever type, they have some or most of the following disadvantages: a/ Cloches are not easy to assemble or quick and easy to construct.

b/ Proper watering of the area under cloches from the top is unsa tisfactory or impossible and, generally, wasteful with respect to water.

c/ Balanced rentilation of space under cloches is difficult to achieve.

d/ Plants under cloches are not readily accessible.

e/ Cloches are not easy to clean and very inconvenient to store when not in use.

f/ Cloches are easily damaged.

g/ Cloches are expensive.

The present invention remedies these shortcomings. In addition, an important feature of the bell is that it provides complete protection to plants against invasive slugs.

According to this invention, there is a bell moulded from transparent plastic material, with openings for watering and ventilation and an anchor piece for pinning down the bell to the ground. The bell can be used to protect individual plants as well as a seeded drill or a row of seedlings or plants.

A specific embodiment of the invention will be now described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing in which: Figure 1 shows a horticultural bell with its anchor piece.

Figure 2 shows bells erected in a row, the bells being additionally secured firmly in position by a lanyard passed through the eyes of the anchor pieces and pegged to the ground.

Referring to the drawing, the plastic bell 1 has a depression at its top and holes 2, thus providing catchment well for rain water or spray, to water the area under the bell. There are also openings 3 in the side walls which can be partially or wholly closed, thus, together with the holes 2 at the top of the bell, providing means for controlled ventilation.

The bell is slightly tapered along its height which allows the bells to be conveniently packed for storage, occupying little space.

Figure 2 shows a number of bells placed close to each other in a row as it would be when protecting seed in a drill or a row of plants. The bells are individully anchored but they can be further secured against being blown by strong wind by threading a lanyard 3 through eyes of the anchor pins and tying the ends to pegs at the end of the row.

Claims (7)

CIA

1 A horticultural bell for protection of seeded drills, seedlings and plants, formed from a transparent plastic material into a box with holes for watering and ventilation.

2 A horticultural bell as claimed in Claim i wherein the zap has a depression with watering holes in it to provide a catchment wall for rain or spray water.

3 A horticultural bell as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the side walls are slightly tapered along the height to enable packing the bells for storage in a minimum of space.

4 A horticultural bell as claimed in any preceding claims wherein the ventilation holes have a provision to be partially closed for adjustment of ventilation.

5 A horticultural bell as claimed in Claim 4 wherein there is an anchor piece for pinning down the bell firmly to the ground.

6 A horticultural bell as claimed in Claim 5 wherein the anchor piece has a provision for additionally securing the bells when arranged in a row, by using a lanyard with its ends peeed to the ground.

7 A horticultural bell, substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawing.