The Plans for Vickys allotment! :D

[Victoria26]

OK so I haven't even got the keys yet but I couldn't wait to start planning.

I've been in my own back garden all morning cutting (Mostly myself) and some willow screening. I had a lot of it from my last garden and it was so expensive i didn't want to throw it away - so I've made it into paths.

The pic is the plan for SIX beds in my new lottie however my garden isnt big enough so I doubled it over...(You'll get the idea.)

The beds are 5ft by 10ft and i'll be going down the no weedkiller road so there will be cardboard under it and then the screening will be pegged in by wooden stakes! Leaving me free to dig the beds out the best I can.

I plan on having two long trenches - about a foot wide - running up either side of my lottie filled with wildflowers so I can feel a bit more enclosed.

I know this is quite ambitious to start with but I don't do things by halfs and at least that means half of my plot will be done in a few weeks. Then I'll erect the shed & GH, get a few bits of garden furniture out and get my pond in.

Phew....have I forgotten anything??? Oh and not thought of chooks yet - I'm still in the process of bribing my husband with that one!

HAPPY DAYS!!!!

[Hazel at the Hill]

I'd do 4' beds, unless your arms are dead long!

Nice idea about the trenches for flowers.

[Victoria26]

TY Hazel. Can't wait to get the foundations laid. Will be phoning the field secretary to ask to go up on Thursday and Friday to get started!

[Snadger]

I'd do 4' beds, unless your arms are dead long!

Nice idea about the trenches for flowers.

I'd very much agree with that!

The first bed system I had was 4 foot wide which was fine. then I got the chance of some breeze blocks and being a tight git and not wanting to clog up my growing area, I put them around it, making it 5 foot wide externally!.............BIG MISTAKE!!!!!!!!!
I couldn't reach to the centre of the plot, which defeated the object of 'no dig' beds!

Stick with 4 foot wide beds, even if you're six foot four.......it'll save your back in the long run!

[Victoria26]

Thanks for that guys - I'll wait until I'm down there on Thursday/Friday and I'll mess around with the dimentions!

[DaveInBraknell]

Hi it looks good,

Just to echo the other guys, I am going to use modern metrics (sorry). I have 4mx1.5m beds being 5'8 I can kneel on the edge and grab the middle easily. One thing I have noticed is to leave enough space behind you so when you kneel you don't damage the bed behind yourself.

Also remember a lot of plants need 45cm-75cm spacing (brasiccas', spuds et al) so 1.5m lets you get between 2-3 rows of plants in there depending upon what you want to plant.

In general my advice would be look at what you want to plant and design the plan generically around this, ie if you want to plant asparagus, you might not want a 4.5mx1.5m bed, but rather a permemnat 2mx2m bed for example.

Also 4m is the maximum lenghth I would run to, minimum would be 3m again due to interspacing times.

Try to maximise the efficincy vs the crops you want to plant vs making it practical (paths et al) is difficult. I got a lot of strange looks from the old guys on the plot when we did raised beds, they said waste of space with all the paths, but 22 4x1.5m beds trying to go no dig is more than enough


Have fun

Dave

[Victoria26]

Thats fantastic Dave. Thanks fot the info - especially about the space between beds! Never thought of that!

These are going to be the cental part of the plot. The front will have a wildlife pond and 4 small raised beds for salads and so on.

There is space for another 6 beds at the back - a shed and a greenhouse so i will start on the back once the middle and front are done.

I get in there tommorrow! Cant wait now!

[Eyren]

I see you've changed your location, Vicky - glad you're settling in! East Anglia is very nice once you get used to the lack of hills and trees (I was born just outside Sherwood Forest)

I got a lot of strange looks from the old guys on the plot when we did raised beds, they said waste of space with all the paths, but 22 4x1.5m beds trying to go no dig is more than enough

Of course the old guys are also wasting space, by having to plant their crops in widely-spaced rows so they can get at them - plus they have to dig more often because they are constantly walking on the soil

We don't have raised beds, but the paths are fixed. Well, in theory they are - in practice I'm having to move them because, like Snadger, I made my beds too wide on the first attempt. Now I have eight instead of six (or will do when the winter brassicas are out and I can finish the rearranging!). When I'm happy with the layout, I plan to make permanent paths out of layers of newspaper topped with whatever inert mulch (bark, straw, etc) I can lay my hands on!

[Victoria26]

FGS Im meant to be going down to make a start on the plans and we're now in the middle of a THUNDER AND LIGHTENING STORM!!!

To make matters worse..... Its forecast to be pi**ing down until SUNDAY!!!

God gimme strength!!!

[HayleyB]

I made a mistake with 5' beds as well, nowt I can do as the paths are there I just 'daintily' step with on foot on the edge and one in the middle for the weeds out of reach

[snohare]

I started off with 1.2m wide beds, have now changed them over to 1m wide with 44cm between the beds (width of the small slabs I have) and wider spaces at the ends, where I can take off the ends and barrow soil, tatties, manure etc in and out. That's just so that I can make better use of the exact dimensions and amounts of soil I have at my plot though, I can see why most folk go with wider beds.
Won't the willows be pretty slippery when wet ?

[Victoria26]

I thought so too but i soaked it in the garden when it was lying out and did the slip test. It was fine but Ive got wood chippings to scatter over it and under it too though.