Allotments - strictest restrictions?

[ldsau93]

had an interesting chat with a colleague who told me about the restrictions at his site which includes:
- no trees (fair enough)
- no sheds (due to previous arson attacks)
- no fruit bushes (!!)

I've also heard of bans on perennials such as rhubarb.

I'd be interested to see how this compares with your own experiences.

The strictest rule we have is no bonfires during the day which although occasionally inconvenient I think is fair.

[Thelma Sanders]

No trees at all.
No fruit bushes or rhubarb without informing council (some people only grew fruit to sell! or so I'm told)
No sheds or greenhouse/tunnel without council permission.
No hosepipes.
No carpet.

[Gillykat]

No concrete foundations, no glass bottle 'sculptures' , no caravans and no sleeping on the allotments overnight. No livestock without written permission and no dogs kept permanently on sites.

Mind you....one guy near the bottom DOES have a caravan on site but he's disguised it (not very well I must add) with wood Could have sworn I had a photo of it but cannot find it yet....may be in a photobucket file....

Generally though they're pretty good about just leaving us alone

[Cadalot]

No Tyres
And the subject of use of weed killer is on the agenda for the meeting at the end of the month.

[WendyC]

No sheds above 4'6". We've restricted greenhouses to 8'by 6' and no glass ourselves. Trees need to be on a dwarfing rootstock but I've yet to see what that is.

[Guest]

My old site was trees must be in pots, there was an allocated space on each allotment for shed or polycarb gh, no glass, no fires and no animals.

Although there was nothing in the contract about baths or similar recycling/upcycling I was told the landowner was not happy I had an old bath and I needed to box it in (prettify it basically)

[Alison]

No sheds above 4'6".

I assume you mean in height, in which case they're not a shed but a storage container as you can't stand in it. What a real shame, I'd be lost without my shed to shelter in when it rains. To be honest many of these rules seem over the top and thankfully we aren't burdened in this way. We're supposed to ask permission for a greenhouse / tunnel but when I did the lady at the council was a bit surprised I'd asked. Our main rule is the unwritten one about bearing your neighbours in mind when doing anything. This works well on our small site and does away with the need for "what if" crack downs.

[WendyC]

Yes it's tool boxes only. To put it in context the plots are only 2.5 rods each. If you then put a large shed on it there'd not be much growing room. When I first had a plot, we weren't even meant to have tool boxes, but we managed to get that changed. There are times I'd like to be able to shelter or hide or even spend a penny!

[Snadger]

No concrete foundations, no glass bottle 'sculptures' , no caravans and no sleeping on the allotments overnight. No livestock without written permission and no dogs kept permanently on sites.

Mind you....one guy near the bottom DOES have a caravan on site but he's disguised it (not very well I must add) with wood Could have sworn I had a photo of it but cannot find it yet....may be in a photobucket file....

Generally though they're pretty good about just leaving us alone

Sounds like my kind of site!

[teakdesk]

Rule 1: Entry to bind weed forbidden. Full stop. Period. Transgressors will be removed from site without notice.



Oops, sorry, I was dreaming.

[elleme]

We're allowed trees but diameter at base should be no bigger than 5cm. So in effect it's dwarfing rootstocks. But that said, a few plots including my own have inherited larger fruit trees which were already there. Fruit bushes are allowed. People aren't allowed to bring on carpet, particle board etc due to contamination risk. Greenhouses allowed, no sheds, tool storage should be under 0.6 metres.

I wish there was a horsetail ban! But that stuff will grow where it likes!

[Nicos]

UK plot...no sheds as it was in view from a NT beauty spot.
Strangely the guy next to us managed to persuade the LC that he could put up a PT!

[muddled]

our plot rules vary considerably depending who you ask....usually centering around what the site rep and his cronies think of you.

If you go to ask the council they tell you its all up to him and at his discretion.

Currently he doesn't come to allotments more than 4 or 5 times a year and has no crops on his plot so there are no rules....

[treepixie]

No sheds/greenhouse over a certain height, no selling of produce, no sprinklers, and no growing of any dodgy herbs!!

[Jay-ell]

My first plot had a rule saying "no bonfires which cause a nuisance".

Therefore you could have a bonfire which didn't cause a nuisance or any other type of fire as both bonfire and nuisance have specific legal definitions.

They also had a rule "no plant supports within 18 inches of the plot boundary"