Get your allotment ready this Spring

For allotment holders, March is an important time to prepare the soil, care for established plants, sow new seeds, and make sure the allotment is set for the year ahead. As the garden comes to life after the colder months, the need for water, both for newly planted crops and soil preparation, becomes a central task and challenge for allotment gardeners.

Soil Preparation and Maintenance

Early spring is the ideal time to prepare your soil for all that you’ve planned to grow this year. Healthy soil means a healthy garden, and after a long autumn and winter, dead leaves and debris can build up, preventing important nutrients from reaching your plants. Turning over the soil and raking out any unwanted debris helps oxidise the soil and improve its structure. Healthy soil retains moisture better, which is vital as the warmer weather arrives. If the soil is too dry or compacted, it can inhibit water absorption, leaving plants vulnerable to drought. You can also consider adding organic matter such as compost, which adds important nutrients to the soil and helps improve its ability to retain moisture. If you’re interested in making your own compost from waste materials from your home, garden or allotment, check out our range of composters here.

Planting Early Crops

It’s at this point in the gardening calendar that we start to think about planting new plants outdoors and starting seeds off indoors. Early crops like broad beans, peas, and onions can be planted in March as they can handle the cooler spring nights. However, these young plants still require a good amount of water to establish themselves, even in the cooler conditions. Making sure you have easy access to water on your allotment is essential year round.

Many gardeners also begin sowing seeds indoors in early spring to get a head start on the growing season. If your allotment has room for a greenhouse, vegetables such as tomatoes and aubergines or flowers like cosmos and petunias can be planted inside. If you don’t have a greenhouse, a windowsill in your home works nicely too! Young seedlings need to be carefully looked after and watered regularly. However, it is important not to overwater as they are particularly susceptible to root rot. Using a small watering can or a mister is ideal to avoid oversaturating the soil.

Weeding

With the impending arrival of April showers and warmer weather, getting on top of your weeding now will help ease the burden later in the year when they grow more freely. Weeds compete for resources with your crops and can cause nutrient deficiencies. Removing weeds as soon as they appear is essential to ensuring your plants receive enough water.

Water Management

Water is crucial for every stage of plant growth, but in early spring, its role becomes even more important. Water management during this period ensures that plants thrive as they establish their roots and begin their growth cycle. Whilst most allotments do come with a water source, these are often located centrally and can result in long treks across the allotment, carrying heavy watering cans filled to the brim. Ensuring you’ve got easy access to all the water your allotment requires, especially in the approaching growing season, can be a bit of a head-scratcher!

Collecting rainwater is a sustainable way to make watering your allotment easier. Whether you are new to the world of allotments or a seasoned expert, we would recommend installing a water butt on your allotment to do so. Early spring often brings a fair amount of rainfall, and collecting this water can be a great way to ensure a steady supply of water in the warmer months. It allows gardeners to store rainwater from the roof of a shed or nearby structure and will help avoid the long trudge across the allotment with heavy watering cans! We have a range of water butts, to fit any size of allotment, that are easy to install. Check them out here.

March is the perfect time to literally set the groundwork for a bountiful harvest later in the year. By preparing the soil, planting new crops, and planning ahead for the summer months by installing a water butt, you’ll be ensuring that your allotment will thrive. With careful planning and diligent care, your allotment can become a flourishing haven of productivity and beauty throughout the growing season.