They look decidedly scruffy!
To make matters worse, they have been standing immediately below the bird-feeder, so they were covered in seed husks and bird poo as well as algae, mold and grime.
In that grubby state they would hardly let any light through. Definitely time for a Spring Clean!
So it was out with a bucket of warm soapy water and a stiff brush, to give them a thorough scrub-down. Fortunately the clear PVC panels (2 on each cloche) can be removed simply by unclipping them, which made the task a lot quicker and easier. After about an hour's worth of scrubbing and rinsing, they look almost as good as new:
The cloches are 1.2 metres in length, so they fit very conveniently in my 2.4m raised beds. I find them very useful. They provide protection against damage caused by frost, wind, heavy rain and (most importantly for me) animals.
I have a bit of a Love-Hate relationship with these cloches. The concept is great - in terms of design they are just what I need - but the construction leaves a lot to be desired. They are much flimsier than I had hoped for when I bought them The metal bends easily and a couple of the PVC panels have cracked. The end-pieces provided were incredibly flimsy and fiddly to fit. They only lasted one year, so now my cloches are open-ended.
Despite these criticisms, I have had the cloches for six years now, so I suppose they can't be that bad. If you are thinking of buying any, you can get them from lots of different suppliers - e.g. Harrod Horticultural - for about £40 each. Just don't be deceived by the description "...rugged steel frames"!
