What are you planning on raising in a pond? most British freshwater fish taste awful (apparently, I'm a vegi so wouldn't know first hand) and I thought watercress needed running water or you got some poisonous snail living on it ..... I'd be very wary about putting trees down a side that borders another allotment..... our site has rules about that I think, certainly anything tall neaqr a boundary is not allowed unless it's a tall crop like Jerusalem artichokes... I must say you're making it sound a bit like a garden and less like an allotment.....does your site allow that (you might run foul of site regs saying 75% has to be used for growing edible things.....
Yes, the idea is to make into something that is mostly a garden. A nice place to sit and meditate. There will be about 20 - 30% of the plot devoted to actual produce. In regards to regulations, I have discussed what I am allowed to do with the other allotment holders, checked my contract and spoken with the allotment chief, and the general consensus is that I can use the space for whatever I like, so long as I keep it in good condition, don't make a profit and be considerate of the other plot holders around me. My plot neighbour has a few apple trees planted along close to the border between us and doesn't mind if I do the same, although I don't think i'll have the trees too close, perhaps with enough space that they can get to a good fruiting size without over-shadowing the next plot. I'll keep them trimmed of course so they don't get too big.
I like the idea of a bath tub pond. I won't be keeping any fish in the pond unless they are small and defiantly not for eating! Just something that can help with a small, mixed local ecology of fish, frogs/toads and the like. I was thinking of attaching a run-off pipe/aqueduct line from the water butt or have a solar pump working for water cress, but those are finer details that i'll have to think on when I get there.
Thanks
;D
-T-
