Community growing projects Guidance for applicants

A high quality, sustainable community garden programme entails much more than just planting seeds and watering at the right time of year. Good management and organisational techniques are essential.

Clear guidelines

Written rules and a group constitution are very important when establishing a new garden, as they spell out exactly what is expected of a gardener and make it much easier to deal with challenges as they arise.  Some suggested issues that you might like to highlight in your rules and guidelines could be as follows:

• a set fee to help cover garden expenses
• information on what vegetables need to be planted when (including if anything can’t be planted), try keeping a weekly/monthly maintenance calendar
• agreement to a certain number of volunteering hours toward community gardening efforts, include a list of volunteer tasks that your garden requires
• if a member is unable to commit to the planned work schedule, notification must be given in good time
• a code of conduct outlining expected behaviour and respect for neighbouring residents and tenants on and around the site
• a commitment from each member to keep weeds to a minimum, regularly water and maintain the areas they are responsible for
• a commitment to clear any rubbish on site responsibly
• a commitment to gardening organically, by agreeing not to use insecticides or weed repellents that will affect other plots
• an agreement on who can harvest what and how it is to be distributed
• whether or not you allow participants to bring their dogs onto the site 

Jobs to do

General maintenance and upkeep

A few general chores might be as follows: 

• collection of any litter/debris
• sweeping or raking up stray leaves on walkways and paths
• trimming or mowing any areas of turf
• keeping walkway edges clean, raking gravel paths upkeep of fences, sheds, etc. through the occasional coat of fresh paint
• clearing moss from stone or brick walkways, which could become slippery
• harvesting and storing vegetables

Fertilising

If you are starting a new garden, particularly in an urban area, you may find that your garden has only a small layer of rich topsoil, if any at all, and the soil underneath may be unsuitable for cultivating vegetables.

In addition to this, continuously growing vegetables in the same soil will eventually deplete its nutrients. As a result, you may have to consider adding some fertiliser to maintain the health of your soils and keep your vegetables at their best.

The three major plant foods that need to be available in your garden are Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P) and Potassium (K). There are four basic types of fertiliser that can be applied to your garden that include these and other nutrients and they are composts, animal manures, natural or organic fertilisers and chemical fertilisers.

Chemical or artificial fertilisers should be avoided if at all possible, because the regular use of them can actually impede the ability of the soil to hold nutrients and could impact on local water resources. For healthy plants and people, ditch the chemicals.

Pests

Whilst there are many beneficial insects that your plants rely on to keep them healthy and productive, there are also some insects and animals that will harm your garden by attacking the leaves, fruits or roots of your plants. So to help you protect your plants from pests, there are various methods you can employ including physical control, cultural control, biological control and chemical control.

Physical control

This method of control involves physically keeping pests out of your garden with barriers and traps, as well as removing established pests on a one-by-one basis e.g. beer traps for slugs, mesh/wire netting to keep birds from eating soft fruits and upturned juice bottles with the tops cut off to put over young plants to protect them from slugs and birds.

Cultural control

This method involves choosing how, what, where and when to plant in your garden to help minimise attack by pests. Companion planting is one approach to cultural pest control by introducing plants that ward off specific pests. One of the oldest and well-known types of cultural control is the planting of marigolds to ward off flying pests and nematodes, but many other plants can do the job as well. Chives, coriander, and nasturtium can help ward off aphids while rosemary and sage keep carrot flies at bay. Hyssop, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage and thyme keep cabbage moths out of your garden. If you know that a certain type of insect pest could be problematic in your garden, timing your planting may be one way to avoid infestation. For example, planting summer squash late in the season so that they mature after squash vine borers have finished laying their eggs, can help protect the plants from attack. Keeping your garden clean is another approach by removing diseased plants, rotting fruits and debris because they will attract pests. 

Biological control

It is easy to enlist a little help with keeping the pests in your garden under control. Try to attract pest predators like insect-eating birds, toads, bats, snakes, insects and frogs to your garden. There are many ways to attract these beneficial creatures and certain approaches will also make your garden more attractive to people. Adding a bird bath or bird house will attract birds, as will the creation of a garden pond. Old logs laid in a shady part of your garden will help attract toads and beetles, and flowers like sedum and butterfly bush will attract bees and butterflies. You can also purchase beneficial insects, like ladybirds, and set these loose in your garden. 

Chemical control

Chemical controls should only be relied on as a last resort, because they can harm the soil and the beneficial insects that you need in your garden. Chemicals are also expensive and will be washed out of your garden when it rains. This run-off can pollute groundwater and waterways. Use chemicals only if you can find no other way to cope with the pests in your garden, and then do so sparingly. Insect-specific chemical treatments, like slug pellets will have little or no impact on the beneficial insects in your garden, but these can still have negative environmental consequences. Always make sure to read instructions carefully, and use only the minimum amounts recommended.

Watering

Watering is best done in the early morning or late evening, when you will lose the least amount of water to evaporation. Watering with a drip line (a hose or tape with holes in it) will help you minimize water loss, as it will deliver the water at the roots of the plants where it is needed. In sunny weather, you should do your best to keep water off leaves, fruits and flowers, where it will do little to benefit the plant and may lead to scorching. You should try to conserve water whenever you can. The following water conservation tactics can be helpful:

• planting species that are well adapted to the average rainfall in your region
• applying mulch to the soil to help hold in moisture
• weeding regularly as weeds will pull moisture from your plants
• installing a rain catchment system to make the most of rainfall
• using drip irrigation to minimise evaporation
• avoiding planting or transplanting during dry spells
• enhancing sandy soils with organic matter to improve moisture retention 

Knowing how much water to use depends on the types of plants you have in your garden, as they all have different moisture needs. The most efficient way to irrigate your garden is to give it a good soaking once a week. This will penetrate deep into the soil, rather than watering just a little bit each day. As a general rule of thumb, a few types of plants need extra attention to ensure their watering needs are met and these are: transplants, seedlings, flowering vegetables and fruits, and container plants.

Weed control

Weeds are often considered the bane of any gardener, because they rob plants of moisture, nutrients, and light. Knowing a few basic weeding approaches can help keep them at bay. The first trick is to start early, and to remove weeds often in the spring and summer before they have a chance to go to seed. Make sure you remove the entire weed, including its root, as some plants are able to re-grow from just a small piece of root.

It is a good idea to weed during hot, dry periods, because the weeds will be easy to remove and will wither on the surface. When using a hoe, try to dig as shallow as possible to avoid disturbing the roots of your garden plants.

Lastly, it may be wise to learn about the weeds in your garden before beginning to eradicate them. A few plants that are treated as weeds, such as dandelions, purslane, nettles, burdock, and wild garlic, are actually highly nutritious and prized by cooks for their flavour.

Vandalism

Vandalism is a common fear among community gardeners. However, the fear tends to be much greater than the actual incidence. Try these proven methods to deter vandalism: 

• Make a sign for the garden. Let people know who the garden belongs to and that it is a neighbourhood project. Fences can be made of almost any material. They serve as much to mark possession of a property as to prevent entry
• Create a shady meeting area in the garden and spend time there
• Invite everyone in the neighbourhood to participate from the very beginning. Persons excluded from the garden are potential vandals. Involve the neighbourhood children in ‘learning gardens’. They can be the garden’s best protectors
• Plant raspberries, climbing roses or other thorny plants around the perimeter to deter people entering the garden other than by the proper entrance
• Make friends with neighbours whose windows overlook the garden. Trade them flowers and vegetables for a protective eye
• Plant potatoes, other root crops or a less popular vegetable such as kohlrabi along the boundary

Final thoughts: record keeping and monitoring

Keep records to monitor your progress, these can be a combination of visual and written records and are a great way to see how much your garden has changed and developed over time. They also give members and volunteers a great boost to see how all their hard work has come to fruition. Records are a way of learning for the future, by providing information by which activities to support and manage the garden can be reviewed, as well as the raw material from which reports are produced. Other purposes of record keeping are for publicity and presentations, applications for funding and reporting back to funders on how money was spent, and to inform you of how your planting plans have worked over time.

The project will also be monitored by the town or parish council and feedback given to Shropshire Council so these records will be essential in providing information to them.

Important points to note

• The community group is responsible for maintaining the garden and keeping it safe, clean, healthy and attractive
• It is essential to secure the agreement of the occupants of any neighbouring properties to the project
• If a growing area abuts or adjoins a footpath or is on or adjacent to a public footway, the council cannot take responsibility for any damage to gardens or their contents
• Obvious hazards must be removed or made safe
• Growing activities must not disturb users of the footpath ie tools, materials and equipment must not encroach onto the public footpath
• The project should not use stakes, guide wires or protrusions which may cause a hazard to users of any adjoining footpath or road. It should not have spiky or tall vegetation which may block sight lines or impede people using the footpath, especially for pedestrians who are visually impaired
• All planting will be carried out by hand with no excavation deeper than 30cm. Mechanised tools and equipment should not be used and care taken around identified drainage pipes or utilities
• The project will not result in the planting or removal of trees unless prior agreement has been obtained
• Growing produce should be outside a radius of 1 metre around tree trunks that are less than 300mm in diameter, to protect the health of trees and their root systems. For trees trunks greater than 300mm in diameter, 2m radius will be protected
• It is not permitted to cut damage or remove tree roots to facilitate planting
• An access strip of 1.5m in width will be provided at least once every 6m through the garden
• The garden will not allow run-off of materials such as water, soil, mulch or debris onto the footpath, road or into drains
• Groups are encouraged to use native plants and organic products where possible
• Groups are encouraged to consider watering by hand with collected rainwater or recycled water (irrigation systems are not permitted) and try mulch to retain soil moisture
• Participants are encouraged to stay safe in the sun whilst gardening