The Cultivated Plot: A Year To Treasure

In the last of the series, Sally and Graham Strong are both looking back on what they have achieved in a year and forward to the plot of the future

- Sally and Graham Strong

I’ve been reading excerpts from a very timely and fascinating book, The GardenJungle: or Gardening to Save the Planet by Professor Dave Goulson. He argues that with just a small change in emphasis, our gardens (and allotments) could become a vast network of tiny nature reserves, where humans and wildlife can thrive together. In our case, and, I expect, that of many readers too, he is pushing against an open door. He also states that allotments are 11 times more productive than arable land, but to achieve this sort of output, I would guess we would have to replace one crop with another as soon as it is harvested so the ground never lies fallow and keep piling on the organic matter. With 90,000 people on the waiting list for plots, he would also like to see councils having the authority to practise compulsory purchase of farmland to make up the shortfall. I can picture the trailer loads of manure being tipped outside council offices now by irate farmers!

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

As well as giving back to nature, I was keen to inject an element of design to make the allotment decorative as well as productive and a pleasure to maintain. A series of paths were laid in a formal grid that gave way to a wild flower meadow beneath newly planted dwarf fruit trees. We added a wildlife pond for the princely sum of £60, had armfuls of flowers for the vase and to dry for winter cheer, a cottage garden full of nectar rich plants for the bees, a streamside terrace in cool shade, rustic wigwams for sweet peas, a cane pergola, raised beds and weathered eye catchers off eBay – a water cart, milk parlour trough and a sizeable riveted and braced galvanised water tank.