Cold frame location?

[JonW]

Hi all, I ordered a cold frame and have two possible locations. And no, I'm not going to get two cold frames, one for each spot

• On my front porch against the wall of the house
• Next to the basement stairs on my back patio, in the pictures.

I think the second option is more sheltered. I just purchased a morris midget boxwood, kiyohime maple, Paul's scarlet hawthorn and cork bark chinese elm from Brent at evergreen gardenworks. In terms of cold hardy plants, I already have crepe myrtle, kousa dogwood and ficus Carica, which I've been keeping under the basement storm doors during winter.

 

[Dav4]

On the ground, and out of the winter sun.

 

[JonW]

On the ground, and out of the winter sun.

Great, the three spot by my basement stairs world briefly get direct sun around noon. I could put it further under the stairs on the left side of the picture (coming down from my kitchen), which would result in only dappled light. Would that be better?

 

[Paradox]

You could probably close off the area under the stairs with something that provides more of a wind break and make easy access to it from the driveway side.
That would make a decent cold frame just doing that.

Generally we want an area that gets as little sun as possible because we dont want sunny days to raise the temperatures inside the coldframe.
My cold frame is located on the north side of my house against the foundation.

 

[JonW]

You could probably close off the area under the stairs with something that provides more of a wind break and make easy access to it from the driveway side.
That would make a decent cold frame just doing that.

Generally we want an area that gets as little sun as possible because we dont want sunny days to raise the temperatures inside the coldframe.
My cold frame is located on the north side of my house against the foundation.

Gotcha. The other side is a sidewalk so I just want it a little protected from passersby. I don't want anything like sheet plastic as a wind break because it would be loud - what material would you use? I bought a polycarbonate cold frame.

 

[Paradox]

I wouldnt recommend sheet plasic either for the reasons you mention and the green house effect it would have when sun was on it.
A polycarbonate cold frame is going to have that problem if you have it in the sun.

Its hard to tell from the pictures but the other side looks like a driveway? Is it your driveway or an adjacent house?
Id try to build something out of wood, just make sure you paint it to protect the wood.

Is there a way you could secure it to the support of the porch with a hasp that you could put a lock on so it isnt open and accessible?

 

[JonW]

People suggested a cold frame because boxwood and juniper (evergreens) need some sun?

There really isn't a driveway, it's a back porch and behind where I was standing is our garage. On the opposite side of the storm doors are air conditioners, so I can't put the cold frame there. I can put it directly at the back of the space in the picture, right against the foundation of the house. It would cartwright get any sun.