Tips for Good Gardening
Tips for Good Gardening
You’ll find this guide is packed with good advice about allotment gardening, from digging the plot to planning year-round use. Adopt the good practice set out here and you should find the experience of managing a plot both enjoyable and rewarding.
This guide isn’t a comprehensive manual, and can’t answer all your gardening queries. But there’s plenty of help available: the borough’s libraries have a great selection of gardening books; the internet is host to gardening clubs, allotment societies (try www.allotments.org for local information) and commercial information; local gardening societies provide advice and your fellow plot-holders will often be able to help.
Don’t rush – if you try do too much too quickly, your tasks will become burdens. Instead, do a little and often. See Preparing the Plot for some ideas on getting your allotment into shape.
Plant wisely –don’t be tempted to rush out on the first sunny day, and look for the varieties that grow well in your area. See What to Grow for some advice on selecting suitable varieties for your soil, and How Much Time to get an idea of what time you’ll need to put aside throughout the year.
Protect the soil – if you take care of your soil, you’ll have less watering, weeding and digging to do. If you prepare the soil as recommended, the Mulching guide will help you keep it in top form.
Make compost – what starts off as waste soon becomes an asset, improving soil, feeding your plants and reducing rubbish. See Composting for a guide on how to build and maintain a compost pile.
Rotate your crops – the three trials to a gardener are the weather, pests and diseases. There’s not a lot you can do about the weather, but crop rotation will limit the damage caused by soil-borne pests and diseases. See Crop Rotation for guidance.
Use the plot year-round – you’ll have a better selection of food for longer, and it will be easier to keep on top of things. See Year-Round Gardening for some advice on what to plant.
Be a good neighbour – consider your fellow gardeners and neighbours as well as thinking of what to grow and how to grow it.
Enjoy it – allotment gardening is a delightful, social activity that brings an understanding of nature and an abundance of fruit and vegetables with a freshness and flavour unrivalled in the shops. Regard it as a delight and a privilege to have an allotment, not a chore!
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