Your first allotment year
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A new plot can look like a lot of work, especially if it's been left to grass and brambles. The trick is not to try to clear it all at once. Clear a bed or two, plant them, and cover the rest so weeds don't get ahead of you while you work through it.
Our guides below take you from the day you get the keys to your first harvest: a staged clearing plan, the case for and against digging, and the crops that tend to forgive beginners' mistakes.
First-year guides
- Taking on an overgrown allotmentClear a neglected allotment in stages: survey, strim, cover and plant a bed at a time, with a week-by-week plan you can fit around work.
- What to grow in your first allotment yearThe forgiving crops to start with on a new UK allotment: potatoes, onions, garlic, broad beans, runner beans, courgettes, beetroot and salads.
- No-dig vs digging on a new allotmentNo-dig or digging on a new allotment: how each works, the effort involved and which suits a weedy plot.Coming soon
- Allotment tool listThe hand tools a new allotment holder actually needs, and what can wait.Coming soon
- Sort the seed box before placing the next orderCheck what seed you already have, keep packet details with it, store dry seed properly and link your stock list to the planting plan before ordering.
Sources
- RHS: RHS: no-dig gardening, mulching the surface instead of digging awaiting check