Gardening 101: How do I protect garden plants from Denver hail storm damage?

Hail - Wikimedia Commons Public Domain

Denver has frequent hail storms in the spring and early summer. Gardens left unprotected are pelted with hard nuggets of pounding hail. Plant damage from a Denver hail storm can be irreversible. It's important for Denver residents to act quickly to protect plants from damage. Here are some items gardeners should have on hand to protect plants from hail damage.

Five gallon buckets and bricks
A five gallon bucket can be placed over short plants to protect them from hail damage. Invert them over the plant. Place a brick or rock on top for weight. The wind can be quite strong in a hail storm. Unweighted buckets may blow over and damage plants. Keep an inverted stack of 5 gallon buckets in an out of the way corner of the garden.

Grommeted tarp
Ground vining plants can be quickly covered with a staked down tarp. These can be purchased quite cheaply at your local Denver Big Lots store. Use cement blocks at each corner to keep the tarp from touching the plants. Drape the tarp over the blocks and pound in the stakes. Attach the stakes to the tarp in advance of a hail storm. It's faster and easier to protect plants when all the supplies are ready for use.

Trash cans
Trash cans are used to cover large caged or staked plants. They can be inverted and weighted just like the buckets. The larger container will serve to protect plants like tomatoes without damage to branches. Keep an inverted stack in the corner of the garden. To save space and protect from rain, stack the five gallon buckets and tarps under the inverted trash cans.

Fences
A quick way to protect multiple plants from hail damage is to measure off tarp grommet locations and pound nails right into fence posts. This way, a tarp can be quickly stretched across the top of the fence to protect plants from hail damage. The grommets slide right over the nails to keep the tarp from slipping. This can also be done with strategically placed posts if the garden is not fenced.

Blankets or plastic
If no preparations have been made, old blankets are a quick solution to protect garden plants. Blankets are soft enough not to damage plants, strong enough to keep out most hail. Carefully drape blankets over garden plants and weight the corners down with rocks. Plastic drop cloth or bags can also protect plants from hail damage.