Can I have a coldframe

Every greenhouse gardener needs a coldframe, but when you haven’t got a greenhouse the coldframe really comes into its own.
Then the coldframe becomes a mini greenhouse where the gardener can raise seeds, grow on cuttings and overwinter all sorts of plants.
It is always limited by its capacity, but you can work round that by moving plants out of the coldframe as soon as the weather allows, or when the plants are ready, but of course many homes are two coldframe households and there’s many gardeners with a few more.
It’s not as if they won’t get used, it’s like buying a greenhouse, you always fill it and always wish you’d bought bigger, at least with a coldframe you can buy another one and move them around easily.

If you have children that are really keen on gardening, or a teenager that is hooked on the hobby, then a coldframe makes a great gift, especially for Christmas. You don’t have to have a traditional ground hugging design, though these are great, you can also opt for an upright coldframe.
Gabriel Ash sells two upright models made from weather resistant western red cedar. The standard Upright Coldframe would grace any style of garden and looks elegant and attractive placed against a wall or a hedge for further protection.
It is freestanding and has a hinged lid and two shelves that can be positioned at heights to suit the user.
The great thing about an upright coldframe is that you don’t need to stoop to tend your plants and you can have shelves of cuttings and seedlings early in the season and then take out the shelves to house taller plants as the season progresses.

There is also a Grand Upright Coldframe that is ideal where a greenhouse is too big, but the standard Upright Coldframe is too small. It’s the inbetweeny greenhouse and ideal for smaller gardens. It is normally supplied without a back, so that it can be positioned against a house or garden wall, but a back can be supplied at extra cost.
There are also two ground hugging versions that are perfectly designed to house your growing collection of plants and to keep them protected from the vagaries of the weather.
There’s the Gabriel Ash Grand Coldframe and the Gabriel Ash Baby Grand Coldframe.
Of course the very best thing about a coldframe is that it can move with you, so if you decide to move home it can be dismantled back into panels and packed away with your belongings in your removal van.
Bear that in mind when choosing a coldframe for a young gardener, a Gabriel Ash Coldframe is built to last a lifetime, so it is a perfect present for an 18th or 21st birthday and will be appreciated and loved for a lifetime, provided of course that the recipient is interested in gardening. 
A coldframe is a great way to learn about all sorts of aspects of gardening and you never know you might be able to use it too.
Of course you could always buy them one and then if they don’t want it or don’t use it you can adopt it for your own needs. Maybe it’s worth a try?
Sometimes reverse psychology works anyway, once they see you using their coldframe they are bound to want to use it!
 

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