Making a Garden With Hotbed and Coldframe 
HOW TO CONSTRUCT AND UTILIZE A VALUABLE GARDENING ASSISTANT IN ORDER THAT YOU 
MAY GET AN EARLY START WITH PLANTS AND CARRY THEM OYER THE COLD WEATHER 
by Claude H. Miller 
Photographs by R. S. Lemmon and Others 
T HE possibilities of garden frames is very large. Their use is 
by no means confined to the raising of lettuce and rad¬ 
ishes, as seems to be the popular impression. We are constantly 
finding new uses to put them to, 
and new tricks and kinks in their 
management. While in most gar¬ 
dens the principal use is to start 
the seeds of flowers and vegetables 
that will ultimately be transplant¬ 
ed into the open, we can also force 
rhubarb, asparagus and perennial 
flowers to make a start a month 
before they would normally do so 
outside. For such cases we should 
use portable coldframes. With a 
hotbed we can have lettuce, spin¬ 
ach and radishes fresh and green 
all winter. We can store all sorts 
of plants through the winter that 
may not be hardy in our climate, 
such as tea roses and many peren¬ 
nials, and we can make a garden 
of annuals a sure success, instead 
of a doubtful experiment. 
The initial cost of garden 
frames is so low that it is practi¬ 
cally within the reach of anyone 
who can afford to have a garden. 
In the latitude of New York City, 
the growing season is too short to 
get the most of our gardens. Just 
about the time when our choicest 
lima beans, egg plants, tomatoes 
and peppers are coming into full 
bearing, the early September frost 
may come along and nip them in 
the bud. By gaining a month or 
six weeks in the spring, we have 
an obvious advantage in the fall. 
We are thus enabled to overcome, 
in a measure, the whims of the 
weather. 
A hotbed consists of a sub- 
frame of wood, brick, stone, con¬ 
crete or some other material, im¬ 
bedded into the ground to retain 
heat. This is filled with fresh, 
fermenting stable manure. On 
top of this manure is a layer of 
soil in which the seedlings are 
grown. The sash, which are the 
essentials of the whole affair, rest 
on the frame and have a slope of 
about 30 degrees to the south. It would scarcely pay a beginner 
to attempt to make the sash, as they may be bought for about three 
dollars apiece from a sash mill. The standard size of hotbed sash 
is three feet by six feet. Our frame will therefore be six feet in 
width and some multiple of three feet in length. A very good 
working standard for the amateur consists of four sash, which 
means a frame six feet by twelve. A four sash frame, complete, 
if bought from a reliable dealer, 
will cost about $25.00. The sash 
alone, without the frame, will cost 
about half this amount. Such a 
frame can easily be made a com¬ 
bination of hotbed and coldframe. 
As soon as the fresh manure 
ceases to ferment, and the heat 
dies down, a hotbed automatically 
becomes a coldframe itself. 
In the actual construction of a 
hotbed, the pit should be dug 
about four feet deep, and a foot 
or more larger than the actual di¬ 
mensions of the frame itself. Af¬ 
ter the pit is dug and drainage 
provided, the next step will be the 
sub-frame. It is not advisable to 
use plank if we desire a bed that 
will last indefinitely. Wood will 
decay after four or five years 
when in contact with the earth. 
If, however, it may not be advis¬ 
able to go to the expense of a 
permanent masonry frame, use 
two-inch plank. Chestnut and cy¬ 
press are two of the most lasting 
woods for such a purpose. The 
life of our planks will be doubled 
if we treat them with something- 
to keep out the moisture, such as 
coal tar, asphalt paint, creosote or 
some marine wood preservative, 
before they are imbedded into the 
ground. The corner posts should 
be 2 x 4 locust or chestnut. If we 
give the sash a slope of about five 
inches from the back of the frame 
to the front, they will shed water 
and will catch the maximum of 
sunlight. 
A brick frame is very satisfac¬ 
tory and of course practically in¬ 
destructible. For the amateur, 
however, who does his own work, 
the ideal sub-frame is made of 
concrete. In making it, the same 
general considerations apply as to 
all concrete work. First we make 
a form, by means of boards, in 
which to cast the concrete. Hemlock is cheap and satisfactory for 
this purpose. It is customary to use 1" x 10" boards for the form 
and 2” x 4" studding for the battens and braces. This form is of 
course only temporary and will be removed as soon as the con- 
Permanent frames should be located so that they receive pro¬ 
tection from the north winds 
Concrete frames are the most desirable, d his one shows a mat 
that is valuable for conserving warmth in zero weather 
