How to Make a Chicken Wire Cloche

Learn how to to make a cloche for your garden or front porch using chicken wire and a tomato cage!

Chicken wire cloches are very popular this year as farmhouse decor continues to trend upwards. Cloche (meaning clock in French) is also another word for oval shape and in this context refers to a wire cage that can be used for decoration or in the garden to protect your precious plants from bunnies and other creatures from helping themselves to your hard earned veggies. We've seen several styles of chicken wire cloches across Pinterest and the internet, including this one from Wayfair at $112. The chicken wire we bought for our project was $24 but rolls start at around $8.

Project time:

30-45 min

Supplies Needed:

• Chicken Wire (available at Walmart, Lowes and Ace Hardware)

• Tomato Cage

• Needle Nose Pliers

• Gloves

• Wire Cutters

Step 1:

Take your tomato cage and turn it upside down so that the circular part is flush with the ground. Then take the top metal pieces and fold them over each other and tuck then underneath the horizontal wire so they stick (see middle photo). Once your tomato cage is in place and you have the shape you want, you can add the chicken wire.

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Step 2:

We rolled out our chicken wire and lines of the bottom of the cloche against the smooth edge of the chicken wire so there weren't any sharp edges on the bottom (see middle picture below). We had some extra pieces of wire that were used to tie the roll of chicken wire together so we used that to attach the wire to the bottom of the tomato cage.

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Step 3:

Then take the top of your cage and gently fold the chicken wire over the top pieces to create a cone shape. This will take some snipping and finagling. Honestly, the top of ours didn't turn out perfect at the top so we added a festive fall bow at the top and it added so much! And voila! This is currently being used as fall decoration on teh front porch but this would also work great for any tall, skinny plants that you want to protect in your garden.

Like this project? Check out similar projects like our Chicken Wire Easter Cloche and 4 Ways to Protect Your Garden.