Overwinter cold frame - which one?

[Return2thebasic]

New to the whole gardening world. Our Victorian house is really small, so I don't want to bring things in to overwinter if I could avoid.

Been looking at cold frames. But not sure if one of those ground level lowish cold frame works better than those high shelf-like cold frames. Like these two in photos.

Any advice please.

Like these two in the photos

I have the higher one, I find it easier to keep the snails and slugs out and to reach into. You do have to be wary and make sure the lower level plants get enough light.

I have one similar to the taller one. It's really useful. Agree about the bending!

I have the second one. It's ok but the lower shelf isn't that much use during the growing season. It saved my dahlias when I potted them up too early! I just look the top shelf out and managed to squeeze them all in.

It folds up well but the lid can't fold down the back so you have to take it off if you want to put it away for storage. In all honestly I'd rather have something bigger but the lower one wouldn't have been as useful for me.

The taller ones can blow over if you are unlucky. Keeping something like a paving slab on the bottom shelf helps weigh it down.

Thanks for all the tips! I think I will go for the tall one then.

Some of them are very flimsy. I had one similar to the second one, and the wind smashed it to bits in one season.