Polytunnels are becoming a popular site on an allotment. This is because they offer much more space than your standard greenhouse and allow you to extend the growing season! Discover more about the best polytunnel for allotments and why you should consider one.
1. More growing space than a glasshouse
If you grow on an allotment, you’ve proven yourself a keen gardener. We imagine you are looking for maximum productivity for your efforts. A polytunnel offers much more growing space than a greenhouse, so you can plant more! What makes our Garden Tunnel the best polytunnel for your allotment is the unique A-Frame, giving you room to stand up right to the edges. This makes our polytunnel far easier to work in, and is much better for your back!
2. The very best polytunnel growing environment
The combination of the Haygrove ventilation system and the diffused polythene cover means that our Garden Tunnel offers a truly superior growing environment to protect your crops from the elements and extend the growing season.
Each polytunnel has manually operated roller venting down both sides of the tunnel. These can be wound up and down to manage the temperature and humidity within the polytunnel. Underneath the roller vents is a fine insect mesh to keep the pests out, whilst you are letting the air in.
The cover on a Haygrove Garden Tunnel is a woven material with diffusing properties. The woven nature means it is extremely strong and any cut in the plastic will not run and can be simply patched up with repair tape. The diffusing property means when sunlight hits the tunnel it is scattered which in turn leads to better light distribution and penetration into the crop canopy.
3. Best Polytunnel for strength!
We pride ourselves on the strength and quality of the Haygrove Garden Tunnel and believe they are robust enough to withstand pretty much everything the British weather can throw at them. This gives you peace of mind that your allotment polytunnel will be standing firm!
4. No permanent concrete base needed
Unlike a greenhouse, our Garden Tunnels don’t have to be on a concrete base, or even a flat one. Our polytunnels for allotments also work well on a slope, although undulations do cause more of a headache.
5. Moving allotment? No problem!
Allotment placements aren’t always a long term option. If you need to move your Haygrove Garden Tunnel, you can simply remove the anchors and, with a team of people, pick it up and move it to a new site. If the move is further afield, the Garden Tunnel can be easily dismantled and reconstructed at its new location. We can even do it for you!
6. Is planning permission needed for a Garden Tunnel?
It’s one question we get asked a lot, do I need planning permission for a polytunnel? The short answer is no, but different allotments have different rules so it is always worth checking the specifics of yours. We sell a lot of our Garden Tunnels to allotments, and they are well regarded due to their strength and quality. We often find if you purchase one of our polytunnels you’ll become the envy of the allotment and purchasing is catching. One allotment site in Bournemouth now has 13 of our polytunnels!
7. Rainwater gutters so you can be water sufficient
Water supply is often an issue on allotments. Rainwater gutters are an optional extra on Haygrove polytunnels.
By fitting gutters to your Haygrove Garden Tunnel, you can harvest the rainwater from your polytunnel into a water butt and use the water to irrigate the plants inside your tunnel. Using rainwater is better for the planet, better for your plants and cheaper than using the hosepipe!
The roof of the polytunnel provide an excellent catchment area for collecting rainwater. The gutters are attached to a galvanised steel bar that fits inside the tunnel – making the gutter completely stable and adding additional strength to your polytunnel.
8. Allows you to have privacy in your allotment space
Let’s face it one of the downsides of an allotment is the potential of having some nosey neighbours! Feedback we hear from our allotment Garden Tunnellers is that they really appreciate the privacy that the translucent cover of the Haygrove polytunnel gives. Despite being translucent, it still has an extremely high light transmission letting 88% sunlight through which is considerably higher than glass.
9. Safety first
Particularly during stormy weather, allotments are prone to having several stray objects flying around. Polythene is much safer than glass, which is dangerous when broken and costly to replace. As well as allotments, it is one the reasons polytunnels are a popular choice for schools and community gardens.
There are many benefits of a Haygrove garden tunnels! Our polytunnels are great for allotments, smaller and larger gardens, schools and our commercial polytunnels which provide a great growing solution throughout the seasons.