GB2265535A

GB2265535A - Plant protection apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2265535A
Application number: GB9207199A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alan Richardson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1992-04-01
Filing date: 1992-04-01
Publication date: 1993-10-06
Also published as: GB9207199D0

Abstract

The apparatus comprises a linearly tapered hollow conical member (1) and a ground-covering portion (2). A rigid (metal) pin (3) which is provided with a circular loop (4) at one end thereof perpendicular to said pin may be utilised to securely hold the apparatus in the ground whereby the circular loop (4) fits over the tubular member (1) whilst the elongate pin (3) passes through a hole (5) in the ground covering portion (2). Member (1) may be transparent/opaque and portion (2) may be opaque - (1) and (2) may be of bio-degradable material, and may be integral or assembled prior to use. <IMAGE>

Description

PLANT PROTECTION APPARATUS The present invention relates to an apparatus for aiding the development and growth of young plants, in particular young trees, and in particular to an apparatus for providing an individual protective environment for a young plant.

In order to improve the establishment and survival of young trees and shrubs it is desired to provide support to the young plant as well as protection from animal damage, control of other plants in the surrounding area, i.e. weeds, and generally to provide an improved environment in which the young plant may grow.

Young plants suffer damage from the extremes of the weather, especially from high winds. Support may be provided by tying the stem of the plant to a wooden stake using, for example, a rubber tree tie. However, this method is both time-consuming and expensive.

Young plants are also particularly vulnerable to damage from animals such as small mammals, for example voles and rabbits, as well as larger mammals such as fallow deer. Fences are ineffective against small mammals and therefore individual plant protection is desired. Known systems which protect a young plant comprise placing the plant within an enclosure, for example a transparent plastic tube or wire netting.

However, such tube invariably needs to be tied to a stake or other supporting means. A self-supporting protective shelter comprising a rigid plastic cylinder in use driven into the ground around a young plant is also known.

To protect the young plant from weeds and local water loss immediately around the base of the plant, a plastic or pitch-fibre "spat" or "mulch mat" is provided.

The spat is held secure using earth or stones and, although a useful additional protection for the young plant, is an additional cost, also increasing the planting time for each tree to as long as ten minutes.

Thus, it may be seen that, in order to grow, young plants require a measure of support, need to be protected from strong winds, require protection from animal damage, water loss needs to be prevented and weeds controlled. However, the known methods for protecting a young plant provide relatively expensive and times consuming solutions which are impractical when applied on a large scale, for example in connection with forestry, gardening and landscaping industries.

It is therefore desired to provide an apparatus which will support and protect a young plant, control weeds in the adjacent area and provide a suitable greenhouse environment/microclimate which requires the minimum of installation time at a low unit cost and suitable for large scale application.

According to the present invention there is provided a plant protection apparatus comprising a hollow, preferably elongate, tubular member, being upright and surrounding a growing plant in use, such member having a ground covering portion formed or attached at or adjacent one end thereof; which portion, in use, covers the ground around one end of said member.

The tubular member may be of any suitable size and shape and be and made from any suitable material. It may be transparent or opaque whilst a degree of rigidity is preferred in order to support the young plant.

The ground covering portion is preferably-opaque and, may be of any suitable size and shape and may be made from any suitable material.

The ground covering portion or spat is preferably sufficiently rigid and large enough to render the plant protection apparatus inherently stable without the need for additional stakes or the like.

Fixing means may be provided, preferably in the form of a rigid metal pin which, in use, passes through the ground covering portion to secure the plant protection apparatus. Such fixing means may be used to prevent movement of the plant protection apparatus in high winds.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a sectional view of the embodiment of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of the embodiments shown in Figures 1 and 2; Figure 4 is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention in use; and Figure 5 is a plan view of the preferred embodiment shown in Figure 4.

As shown in Figure 1, the preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a linearly tapered hollow conical section 1 which, in use, slips over a young plant, and a further ground-covering portion 2 attached to the larger end of the linearly tapering conical tube.

In the preferred embodiment, the linearly tapering tube and the ground covering portion are manufactured separately from different materials and assembled prior to use, although they could equally be manufactured as a single unit.

The conical tube 1 is made from a strong, light, rigid, transparent material in order to, in use, protect the young plant from strong winds, foraging mammals and the like.

The ground covering portion 2 is preferably formed from a semi-rigid or rigid, opaque material to form a "spat" around the base of the larger end of the conical tube. The spat offers protection from weeds and local water loss immediately around the plant. A semirigid ground covering portion allows the young plant to sway slightly in the wind, which may be desired in order to strengthen the growing plant Both the conical tube and ground covering portion are preferably formed from bio-degradable material, also preferably non-toxic and non-polluting.

The plant protection apparatus of the invention provides a suitable microclimate by increasing the humidity of the air around the young plant. This is believed to reduce the risk of losses caused by moisture stress whilst encouraging rapid early growth.

Also shown in Figure 1 is the preferred method of fixing the plant protection apparatus in the ground using a rigid pin 3, preferably made from mild steel, having a circular loop 4 at one end thereof, perpendicular to said pin. The circular loop fits over the conical section 1 whilst the elongate pin portion passes through a hole 5in the ground covering portion 2 to securely hold the plant protection apparatus in the ground.

The plant protection apparatus has three such holes 5 in order that the fixing pin 3 may be repositioned if required whilst the two unused holes provide additional ventilation.

This method of fixing has a number of advantages over the prior art. Firstly, it does away with the need for large and expensive timber stakes which are timeconsuming to install, and secondly obviates the need for rubber ties to hold the young plants to the timber stakes. Also known in the prior art is the use of a rigid circular tube driven into the ground around the young plant. However, such driving of the tube into the ground is often impossible because of stones in the soil and these tubes are either not driven into the ground to the recommended depth thus causing instability or split as they are driven in. The strong metal pin as may be used with the preferred embodiment of the present invention is simple and effective, being quick to insert and easily avoiding stones in the ground.

The tapered cone 1 encourages a plant's side shoots to be channelled through the tube promoting strong, straight upright growth of the young plant.

A further advantage of the plant protection apparatus is that two or more may be stacked together for ease of transport.

Figures 2 and 4 show a side elevation and crosssection respectively of the preferred embodiment of the plant protection apparatus in use, before and after planting a young plant and fixing the plant protection apparatus to the ground using a steel pin.

Figures 3 and 5 are plan views of the plant protection apparatus of Figures 2 and 4 respectively showing more clearly the position of the holes 4 and location of the fixing pin 3.

Thus, an improved plant protection apparatus has been described, having a protective tubular section and ground covering portion, which is cheap to manufacture, quick and simple to install, inherently stable and provides the desired environment to enhance the growth of a young plant

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A plant protection apparatus comprising a hollow tubular member, being upright and surrounding a growing plant in use, such member having a ground covering portion formed in or attached at or adjacent to one end thereof, which portion, in use, covers the ground around said one end of said member.
2. A plant protection apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the hollow tubular member is elongate.
3. A plant protection apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the tubular member is in the form of a linearly tapered hollow conical member, and in which said ground covering portion is attached to the larger end of the linearly tapering conical tubular member.
4. A plant protection apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the tubular member is formed of transparent or opaque material.
5. A plant protection apparatus as claimed in claim 4, in which the tubular member is formed of material having a degree of rigidity.
6. A plant protection apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim in which the ground covering portion is opaque.
7. A plant protection apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim in which the tubular member and the ground covering portion are formed from bio-degradable material which is preferably non-toxic and non-polluting.
8. A plant protection apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, additionally including fixing means for securing the plant protection apparatus, in use, to the ground.
9. A plant protection apparatus as claimed in claim 8, in which the fixing means is in the form of a rigid metal pin which, in use, passes through the ground covering portion to secure the plant protection apparatus.
10. A plant protection apparatus as claimed in claim 9, in which the rigid metal pin has a circular loop at one end thereof, perpendicular to said pin, which loop, in use, fits over the tubular member whilst the elongate pin portion passes through an aperture provided in the ground covering portion to securely hold the plant protection apparatus in the ground.

fl. A plant protection apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.