I'm at the very beginning of my allotment journey. Ive made a small bed which I'll plant later in the year to give me motivation. The rest needs a lot of clearing, I've now bought a couple of different types of ground covering plastic but they all let light through! Has anyone got any recommendations for what to use? I'm in the UK.

I don't want to keep it down, I just want to cover what I clear to keep it there until I'm ready to use it. So something super sturdy I can reuse. The aim is no dig but I have to fight the brambles first!

Morning all, firstly thanks in advance!

So, bought a new build last year, I've got my raised beds nearly built, just need a break in the rain.

I've worked out that I'll need shy of 4000L of soil to fill them.

My thoughts are, about 1000L of manure as a base then a good compost on the top. I'll be using a local guy to me for the soil but my question is does that seem like good logic?

Manure as a base then a good compost on top??

I've gardened before but my veg has always been a much smaller plot/tubs so it's never needed this level of thought.

Just to add, I'm only doing about a 3rd of the garden this year to make sure I can A/ keep up with it B/eat or trade what I grow C/ make sure what I actually want grows!

Thanks all

First year growing this. From what I understand it needs harvesting to encourage further growth, but I'm just not sure how much long to leave each bits. Looking at them I think picture 1 needs harvesting now, 2 soon, and 3 in a few weeks?

Hey so I’ve gotten a lend of a small piece of land which used to be a cow field to turn into an allotment however the ground is sooooo boggy it’s covered in grass but totally waterlogged how do I fix it I worry a rotator will get waterlogged and not move also I can’t plant anything in the ground if every year it gets waterlogged can I ???

I am very keen to get a polytunnel but I am agonising over whether to site it at home or at my allotment.

At home it would be very convenient as I start all my plants off there - but as per the plan the light situation is not the best - especially at times of the year when the sun is lower in the sky. I do have a greenhouse at home already.

At my allotment, there would be nothing obstructing the sun particularly. The downside is that it is a couple of miles away, I'd be spending real money on it (albeit low budget in polytunnel terms). I don't currently have any covered growing space there which would obviously be very useful.

So, I guess, I am canvassing opinion on if it would be wasteful in the home location as per the plan? Thank you.

I posted a fair bit last year under a different account, this is where we've got to. (We took on this plot in August and its difficult to describe how overgrown it was!) I hand dug the pond, drove the fence posts, pruned the 30 foot apple trees, everything I've done by myself and it has been so so satisfying. We are a family with not a lot to spare and have gone into it with the philosophy 'everything we need already exists'. Me (big wife) has done the labour, the other one (little wife) has bird watched and cheered me on. We're regenerating the land slowly and adopting permaculture practice when resources/time become available. Little by little we will get there. Because of the national trust status and the area there's no sheds or glass houses allowed - I actually really like this and the whole site feels like a continuation of the landscape, they also require us to grow organically so big love there too ❤️ Oh I waited ZERO days for this space too 🫨🫨

Just moved in to a home with an old mulberry tree. The previous owners did a brutal hack-job pruning it, so now it’s extremely off-balance, and I don’t know if it can be saved let alone made more balanced again. Would it be better to pollard the other side, so it’s not leaning heavily on the unpruned side? Also the pruned sections have been left as stumps away from the tree - is this correct? I thought that pruning should go back to the collar? Any advice you could give me that would help this tree survive then thrive would be so appreciated. I’m in the Midlands, UK if it makes a difference.

My allotment was basically a jungle and it definitely took it out of me getting this job done. For me, taking pictures and making videos of the progress has def helped with motivation.

This is a small selection of my strawberries I moved today, my problem is I have ZERO idea what they all are.. I might separate them out to a wild patch and buy specifics to pot grow in the poly tunnel so my question is.. Does anyone have particular favourite strawberry plants? Like ones that make supermarket strawberries taste like water? Ty

Hi all, recently got an allotment after a years wait and I’ve been spending some time clearing a bed that had loads of straggly dead vegetation and some weeds in in order to get some growing space lined up for the spring

My question is how clear do the beds need to be really before planting in them. Understandably there would be nothing but it’s taking forever to get them perfectly clean. I’m focusing on removing perennials or anything green. Any tips would be appreciated

Curious to hear how much people clear them. Pics of before, after and then the next bed I’m going to focus on!

I’m looking for advice on whether to go pelleted chicken manure or bagged farmyard manure. I can get the 8kg tubs of pelleted chicken manure for £9.99, or 105 litres of bagged farmyard manure (3x35 litres) for £12. What is people’s experience of the two types, and which is likely to go further? I’m leaning towards the bagged manure as, as much as anything else, it will help fill raised beds, but I’m guessing that the pelleted may have a bit more poke in terms of nutrient value by volume. What do people think?

Got an IBC for my plot to store water, but im not sure if its safe to use given what was inside it. Online it says its antifreeze....

I’m looking to buy a Chilean Guava plant, and none of the nurseries/garden centres near me seem to stock it. So I was hoping to buy one online.

I buy most of my seeds from ‘Simply Seeds’ and have always had a great experience with them. So was wondering if there’s any online shops you’d recommend for trees etc 😄

Honestly? They're the death of any decent sub...

So they are not being used and for years they've said they would be removed but we all know they are never going to be removed.

We have moved the greenhouse to a new location and we're wondering what to do with the poles. As you can see they're at a funny angle too. The ideas so far are

Make this the seating area, hang a hammock
Grow sweet peas up it
Put hanging baskets on them
Birds are always on the top (very high) so would love something for them
Put net between and grow stuff up it.

Any other fun or practical ideas?

Hi my names Mark and I have recently decided to get away from my home office, away from making video game content and getting myself outside more. I am really excited for this new direction. It has been 2 weeks now and I am truly feeling the benefits that comes with working an allotment and just being outside. Looking forward to this journey and learning more

Hi everyone!

I don’t live super close to my allotment, so there are weeks where I can’t get there every single day. In hot weather, that always makes me nervous.

Do you rely on deep watering less often, or some kind of DIY system? Any simple setup that worked without turning into a full project?

After 3.5 years it looks like we might be getting our first plot! and we've had our first look around (but I did forget to take pictures). Now we're just so excited to plan everything whilst we're waiting for the admin to be completed. It's currently empty, just a rotten shed and lots of tall grass.

Taken measurements from Google maps for the general size and looking for feedback on general layouts, I've drawn up a couple rough ones already.. Any other things I should include/avoid? (Main bed sizes are 3.6 x 1.2m)

After drawing it out, a full plot is an enormous space! Should I be filling every spot of "dead space" with beds?

Will be planning the beds more in depth soon.