New allotment, where to start?

[Paul Wagland]

Instead of wasting your money on DPM I would hire a strimmer if you haven't already got one and knock the grass off, you can now start digging once the ground has thawed, the weeds won't grow this time of year, I dont know what sort of limp wristed diggers there are giving advice on this site but I can lend you a 76 yr old bloke off our site that would have the front bit of your plot up to the timber dug and deweeded in about 14 hrs thats 7 days at two hours a day and that includes talking.

Hiring a strimmer costs about £30 - no cheaper than a roll of DPM. Of course in the summer you'll need to strim every weekend.

It's horses for courses really: DPM is better for keeping weeds down in a given area for a long period of time, a strimmer is better for clearing areas like paths and edges, where you can't use DPM or where you're ready to cultivate the land straight away.

[Paulottie]

I wouldn't bother with either.

If your going to invest - get the best...Mypex. Great for the early years. Otherwise use cardboard boxes or newspaper.

I wouldn't bother with HIRING!!!!! a strimmer either....unless there is lots of folk to share in the price for the day. (I get 2 allotments for £30) Noisy things anyway- I'd buy a sickle/scythe at the car boot handy to keep in your proposed shed...unlikely to get nicked and very effective in practised hands

I suggest spend the money on a good quality spade and fork, and a box of matches, a delivery of horsemuck or similar.....dig the weeds out (dry a bit and burn / or dig a big grave sized hole and bury them all)then dig the muck in.

[PAULW]

Hiring a strimmer costs about £30 - no cheaper than a roll of DPM. Of course in the summer you'll need to strim every weekend.

1 Why would you have to strim every weekend when you have already dug all the grass out, the reason from strimming is to clear the ground so you can see what you are digging

It's horses for courses really: DPM is better for keeping weeds down in a given area for a long period of time, a strimmer is better for clearing areas like paths and edges, where you can't use DPM or where you're ready to cultivate the land straight away.

2. It is WINTER the weeds are not growing and this is the time of year to get the rough digging done,
3. We are talking about digging a 10 rod plot less fruit bushes not Hercules clearing the Augean stables

Next, decide how much of the plot you can bring into cultivation in your first year

4. If you cannot manage to cultivate the amount of ground you have, on our site that plot would be taken away from you and given to someone who can manage, we have 30 people on the waiting list you cannot have people sitting on a plot and not using it.

[Snadger]

Some good replies to this thread.

I must admit I tend to agree with PAULW. If you want an allotment you need to be prepared to put a bit of time and graft into it.

Fair comment that if you are disabled or injured this won't be possible,(and should maybe think of a half plot initially) but generally speaking if you are fit you should be able to knock a 10 rod plot into shape in no time at all.

As has already been mentioned NOW is the ideal time to get the digging done before the weeds start growing in spring. If you are a keen fruit and veg grower you will want that land ready to plant/sow in the late spring.

The point about people on huge waiting lists is also a good one. How would you feel if they were waiting for an allotment and someone else is given the opportunity, only to cover the whole lot with some form of plastic!
I am all for organic mulch with plants growing through it, but a sea of plastic?..........Nah!

[Paul Wagland]

If you want an allotment you need to be prepared to put a bit of time and graft into it.

Agreed, clearly. Not everyone who wants an allotment is fully fit though, or has enough time to get it completely dug over before the growing season really starts. That shouldn't mean they aren't allowed a plot, should it?

The biggest reason people give up on their plots (usually after just one year) is that they can't cope with it all at once. I don't think there's any shame in taking on a neglected plot, controlling one half (plastic, strimming, mypex, whatever) and cultivating one half in the first year, then using their first winter season to bring the uncultivated half up to speed.

[bluemoon]

I'll just say what I always say. Visit in foul weather during winter, even if just for a few minutes. Identify frost pockets, waterlogged areas, decide if you need windbreaks and look for any areas that might be in permanent shade over the winter months when the sun is low. This way, come summer, you won't set out any overwintering veg in an unsuitable position.

[Snadger]

Agreed, clearly. Not everyone who wants an allotment is fully fit though, or has enough time to get it completely dug over before the growing season really starts. That shouldn't mean they aren't allowed a plot, should it?

The biggest reason people give up on their plots (usually after just one year) is that they can't cope with it all at once. I don't think there's any shame in taking on a neglected plot, controlling one half (plastic, strimming, mypex, whatever) and cultivating one half in the first year, then using their first winter season to bring the uncultivated half up to speed.

Sorry Paul, we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

If you only cultivate half your plot the first season, the next person on the waiting list would surely be aggrieved, and rightly so, along with our committee as it happens, if half a plot is put down to plastic the first season where someone else could have been feeding there family from it!

In the past this was probably acceptable, but with the current waiting lists for plots these days its just WRONG!

If allotment associations want to cater for people who can't manage a 10 rod plot, half plots should be made available. In our case this is not necessary as all our plotholders manage there 10 rod plots quite easily the first year!

[Paul Wagland]

If allotment associations want to cater for people who can't manage a 10 rod plot, half plots should be made available. In our case this is not necessary as all our plotholders manage there 10 rod plots quite easily the first year!

I'd certainly like to see people offered the choice between 10 and five rod plots, The trouble is, once councils get the 'half plot' idea in their heads, they start cutting all vacant plots in half, just to get through the waiting lists faster. I've been offered (and accepted) three plots in Colchester, each one of them only 5 rods. Having the choice is important.

[PAULW]

I've been offered (and accepted) three plots in Colchester, each one of them only 5 rods. Having the choice is important.

So Paul are you going to dig one this year, one next year and one the year after seeing as you think ten rod is to much in one year.

[Lazgaot]

Why not speak to your allotment officer and see if you can get someone on the waiting list to be a co-worker with you?

[SAFIA]

wow i was jsut going to say do what you can when you id definatetly get those raised beds going as they look an ideal place to sart and go from there, i was also going to say there is no rush rome wasnt built in a day, ive had my plot a year but due to work 2 little children and the weather oh and bind weed grrrr i havent been able to do as much as i would have liked and have not been able to do my whole plot yet but after reading the last few comments i darent say anything

[Paul Wagland]

So Paul are you going to dig one this year, one next year and one the year after seeing as you think ten rod is to much in one year.

Firstly, I didn't say 10 rods was too much to dig over in one year. Only that some people can't do it in one year. That's no reason not to give them a plot. They might take two years to get a neglected plot into full cultivation, then be brilliant tenants for a decade or more.

Secondly I didn't say my plots were all offered to me this year. I've had them ages. They're all nicely dug. Where do you think the Allotment Gardener comes from?

Personally, I find the idea of giving allotments only to people who are physically fit and have plenty of time on their hands quite offensive. Why should anyone be excluded? All we need is more land to be set aside for extra allotments.

Perhaps you think only people who know how to spell and punctuate should be allowed on web forums?

[SarzWix]

Personally, I find the idea of giving allotments only to people who are physically fit and have plenty of time on their hands quite offensive. Why should anyone be excluded? All we need is more land to be set aside for extra allotments.

I think this is a tough call really. The plot next door to mine has had virtually nothing grown on it for the last 2 years, the reason being that the plot holder has taken on lots of extra shifts at work and his wife "can't manage it yet because the children are too young". So they are basically 'holding' the plot mostly covered in plastic until.... When? He retires? The kids are grown up?
This plot, in my opinion, should have been given up last year. But when they get the non-cultivation letter, they come for the weekend, plant some garden centre veg, then leave it to get overgrown & the plants get eaten by pests. Then they put plastic over it again....

On the other hand, I have HMS, and back problems, but managed to have about 2 thirds of my plot under cultivation within 6 months, and all of it within 12, using a combination of digging and lasagne style gardening. (hang on while I just polish my halo... ) And a plot across the way has been similarly fettled by a Paramedic who works long hours and has a 1 year old little boy.

I really do think it depends on a person's outlook whether a full
plot, overgrown or otherwise, can be brought into full cultivation within a year. If you are determined enough, it can be done, even with disabilities or time restrictions.

[PAULW]

Sarah has hit the nail on the head, I have never said that plots should not be given to people that are less than able, and as for time the problem IMO is people watch the likes of GW whole plot dug planted and harvested in a half hour show and think that looks easy, on top of which contributers to gardening magazines come out saying "it doesn't matter if you dig your plot or not just cover it in plastic and take your time, a year two or ten you will get there in the end" the plot goes from messy to really messy to a plot that needs an air strike with agent orange, two hours a week with a little application over the winter is all that is needed to bring a plot to fair order.

[Claire Hart]

Hello everyone.

Last Sunday I took over a plot at the local allotment and now I have no idea where to start. Where do all you experts advise me to start first?


It's a nice size but overgrown with grass. In the middle I have 4 blackcurrent bushes and at the back a plum tree. The structure of the raised beds already there need seeing too but that should be easy to sort out.



Thanks for your help!

Hi- lucky you getting such a super plot- so many folks are waiting for allotments these days (hence Hugh Fearny Whittingstalls Landshare project!). Well with the wetaher as it is- (wet and windy) I'd personally start with a nice cuppa and sitting down with my seed catalogues in a warm , toasty room, and planning at this stage! Better to sit down and have a plan than waste alot of effort , rotivating (difficult if wet or too hard with frost) and digging and then finding out that you might be able to grow stuff in Gro-sacs or conatiners! Wish you all the bst with it. Enjoy! Claire Hart