Community and allotment gardens

What it is

In Britain an allotment site is a field divided into numbered strips, each with a shed and a water butt, rented by the year from the local council. In Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands the plots are small fenced gardens with a summer cabin, set along paths behind a common gate. In North American cities, a community garden usually occupies a vacant lot, with raised beds assigned to members and shared areas for flowers, compost and gatherings.

Where it comes from

British allotments grew out of the loss of common land and the growth of industrial towns, and laws passed in the early 1900s required councils to provide them. In Germany the movement is linked with Leipzig, where gardens named after the physician Moritz Schreber were founded in the 1860s. Plots multiplied in both world wars as governments urged people to grow food. In New York, residents began turning derelict lots into gardens in the 1970s.

The flowers

Vegetables come first, but most plots keep a row for cutting: sweet peas on canes, dahlias, gladioli, chrysanthemums, sunflowers and marigolds. Some growers raise blooms for the village or allotment show, where single stems are judged on a bench for size and perfection. Flowers also earn their place by drawing bees and other pollinators to the beans and fruit. Many sites now set aside a strip of wild flowers for the same reason.

How to take part

1. Ask your local council or garden association about plots. In big cities, expect a waiting list.
2. Start with half a plot. A full one takes several hours a week in summer.
3. Sow a row of sweet peas, cosmos or zinnias beside the vegetables for flowers to cut all season.
4. Go to the site's open day or show to meet the neighbours and pick up spare plants.

Good manners

• Keep your paths and edges tidy, and your weeds from seeding onto the next plot.
• Never pick from another plot, however much is going to waste, unless you have been asked to.
• Follow the site's rules on water, bonfires and locking the gate.

The flowers

DahliaA bushy perennial with tuberous roots and bright, star-shaped bloomsGladiolusTall, showy flower spikes grown from corms, known as sword liliesChrysanthemumAutumn-blooming flower with thousands of varieties, cherished in East Asia and beyondCommon sunflowerA tall annual plant grown for its large yellow flower heads and edible seedsMarigoldA group of bright annual and perennial flowers known worldwide as marigolds

Also part of it, and being written: Sweet pea, Calendula officinalis.

Sources and further reading

• Allotment (gardening) on Wikipedia