Overwintering Plants

Often times, plants can be borderline hardy in our climate and need some extra protection from the winter winds and cold. A floating row cover can maintain an area of warmer air around your more tender plants.

TerraLink is the western Canadian distributor for Fiberweb, a leading producer of specialist technical fabrics for use in agriculture and horticulture. Made of non-woven polypropylene, floating row covers have been commonly used to extend the growing season of high value crops and increase yield and quality. Many nursery growers also use them to protect their stock from freezing temperatures late in the fall or in early spring when night and day temperatures can have extreme fluctuations. TerraLink stocks Novagryl and Agryl floating row covers (fleece) of various lengths and widths. Check our website for the sizes.

Fleece should be laid directly on top of the crop and secured with soil or weighted bags. It must be laid as tight as a bed sheet otherwise it will catch the wind. A good quality fleece has 20 – 30% stretch so it can expand.

If securing with soil it is important not to use too much soil otherwise the fleece will be very hard to remove. Another option for weighing down the fleece is to use bunker bags. The bunker bags are long, narrow, sausage-shaped, and are available either empty, or pre-filled, sold by each or by the skid-lot (25x20kg). They're easy to handle with a good weight. Tough polyethylene material for multi-year use. They tie shut once filled and have a handle for ease of movement and placing.

Our pre-filled Bunker Bags contain limestone instead of gravel, so any bags that open, the contents may be tossed directly onto the fields, where limestone will benefit the soil. If you want to fill them yourself you can also buy them empty as 50 bags/bundle. Size 120cm x 27cm. Call for pricing and availability.

Fleece can be left on the crop as long as required but it is normally advisable to take it off once any danger of frost has past in the Spring or you may suffer heat stress in your plants.

To remove the fleece, remove any weights and simply pull out the edges. It can then be rolled up with a crop cover rolling machine and reused the following season if it is still in good condition.