Gardening advice

You don’t need extensive horticultural knowledge or a large collection of tools to garden an allotment: seed packets give you basic instructions to get started, and a small collection of tools – fork, trowel, rake, hoe, a bucket and a watering can – should allow you to prepare the ground, sow, water, weed and harvest.

What newcomers to the allotments usually underestimate is the amount of time they’ll need to bring a plot into productive use. In autumn and winter an hour a week may be enough to keep on top of routine tasks, including preparation of a new plot for the growing season. In spring and summer, an hour a day is more realistic. These are very general figures and the workload depends on the size of the plot and the types of plant you grow, but it gives you an idea of the amount of time you might need to devote to the allotment.