How to find and apply for your own allotment - and why now's the best time of year to get started
If you want to try your hand at gardening your own allotment someday, start planting the seeds now🌱
- Allotments are garden plots rented out by local councils
- They tend to be very popular, and you will usually have to join a waitlist
- But there can be a few different ways to find an allotment or streamline the process
- A UK gardening charity says the coming months are the best time to start preparing your plot for spring
If you want your own little patch of bucolic heaven this coming spring, now is the time to start laying the groundwork.
From homegrown veggies you can take pride in, to brilliant blooms that light up any room, gardens can bring us a lot of joy – and create an avenue for spending more time outdoors. But not all of us are blessed with having our own private backyards, which is where the great British tradition of allotments can come in.
Allotments are garden plots people are able to rent from their local councils, for a small fee. As well as being a place to grow your own food, they can forge a sense of community, connecting up new gardeners with their green-thumbed peers as they work together to create a better space for everyone.
If you haven’t managed to secure your own allotment yet – or you’re not sure where to start – you’re not alone. But in its guidance for newcomers to the world of allotments, The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) – the UK’s leading gardening charity – says that now is the perfect time of year to make sure you’re all set for spring.
But how do you actually go about finding and securing your own allotment, and what can you do if you’re facing down a months-long waiting list? Here are some of the top tips from the RHS:
How to find (and apply for) an allotment near you
The start of September means that autumn is here, a time of year many wouldn’t initially associate with time in the garden. But the RHS says the upcoming cooler months are the best time to start preparing your plot, “when you can get on with all the clearing and repairing jobs before the main growing season starts”.
Using the winter months to your full advantage can ensure your allotment is ready for spring. This is especially true if you need to clear out a brand new plot. If it’s been neglected for some time, there may be brambles, shrubs, or weeds in need of digging out, smothering, and cutting down.
If you haven’t found or applied for your own plot yet, the formal way is to register your interest with your council. The body which manages and assigns plots in your area may be a parish council or another local authority, but luckily, the Government has a handy online tool here which can direct you to the right place – with each council typically having its own webpage with instructions on how to apply.
Waiting lists for these can sometimes be lengthy, even spanning years in very popular areas. However, the RHS suggests that the best way to find an allotment in your local area is actually by word-of-mouth.
Try asking neighbours or friends who have an allotment, it recommends. Failing that, you can use the internet to search for local allotments – some may have their own website or Facebook page with details, which could help you get a foot in the door faster.
Is there any way to speed up the process?
You can boost your chances of getting your own plot by joining waitlists for several local sites. But depending on where you live and what waiting lists look like in your area, you may just have to wait it out.
The RHS says even if this is the case, you shouldn’t be discouraged. “Get yourself on the waiting list and think of it as a long-term investment”, it advises.
But it adds that allotments at less popular sites might have shorter waiting lists, and one could become available more quickly. In this case, you may have to choose between a higher-quality plot, or one you can get started on sooner. The RHS continues: “Sometimes it is better to be on a waiting list for a good, well-tended plot, than inherit a weedy, overgrown plot on another site.”
There is also one other thing you can try if the wait for allotments in your area seems exceptionally long – teaming up. Allotments historian JC Niala, who has a doctorate on urban gardening from the University of Oxford, previously told us that councils are legally obliged to provide a sufficient number of allotments.
“A little known fact is that if six people from different households apply for an allotment together, their council has an obligation under the 1908 allotment act to find them a space,” she said.
Wanting more gardening tips for this autumn? Why not check out some of our other coverage, like this piece on flowers you can plant right now to brighten up your garden – and give wildlife a helping hand.