Allotments 4 All

Hello all,

I'm in the process of sorting out the back of our plot - clearing the old shed and getting rid of the rubbish that previous owners have left over the years (15 cracked panes of glass, anyone?).

I've started to create a few raised beds.  I knew they would be fairly shaded, as there are trees forming the allotment fence.  Last week, I saw that they get reasonable direct sunlight untila bout 1400.

What I didn't realise is how little water they get - the tree canopy must be stopping it somehow. They were almost bone dry despite loads of rain yesterday.  I was going to plant rhubarb - but will it cope?  ANything else you could suggest?

I put my rhubarb in a very similar situation........and after 5 years have just moved it! It was just too dry, and although I got a crop, after mid June the plants fizzled to nothing until the next spring. The other clump just a few meters further away from the shelter on the shed keep green and looking good until the frosts, so it was obviously the situation it didn't like. I'm struggling to find something else to put there now, I might end up just using it as another compost bin area or insect hotel! :-\

Hmm I thought as much.  Have spent a lot of time pondering down there today and can only think of using it as a seed bed.... perhaps with some sort of drip fed watering.  We'll see what happens I suppose!!

Trouble with compost bins is that they only use so much space, even if you have 3 and some leaf mould bins too!

Looks so much neater now - there must be something I can do with the area!

How big and established are the trees ? The roots of trees suck water quicker than an electric pump  :o

Did anyone else hear that feature on the radio about the noise trees make drawing up water?  :o

The trees are probably at least 25 years old - they're the border between the allotment and the ring road.

I appreciate they could draw some water up, but as the new beds are raised I can't see how they could take the surface water so quickly.  It is possible that they are super quick draining, but I'm not convinced.

I feel a rain gauge experiment coming on!!

Try strawbale growing to use the space...

Any chance of a bit of tree pruning?

How about permanent cold frame..built on raised bed..you could raise new plants to grow somewhere else..and grow some early salad crops and maybe some roots too.
If you line the bottom of the raised bed with plastic or pond liner with just couple small holes for drainage for excess..it would behave like water reservoir and keep things moist.. ;)
Same would work if you would like to make blueberry bed...perharps both options..

I think you'll need to add something to stop the tree roots growing up into the bed. My raised beds are near a hedge and they have dug once a year to break up the tree roots that grow up in search of the lovely nutritious raised bed soil. bah - no chance of no dig!

They really draw out the moisture from my beds too, particularly the one near a big conifer.

Ah lining them to retain moisture is a genius idea!!

Sounds like a good plan for seedlings, which might appreciate some shade in the afternoon to boot.

I suppose the other option is to use pond liner and set up a wicking system within the bed, use that to keep seedlings happy, maybe with fleece around them to stop any pesky pests.

Yes i was going to suggest that you line it with something to help retain the moisture and to build the bed up high maybe 3/4ft to get the most of the sun.

2 suggestions

Using it as a 2nd compost area so when you turn the compost in your main heap you then layer it with more fresh stuff in your new bed and then over the next growing year build the layers of nice fertile soil up with some water retaining gell or something simular. Then next christmas i would add a few thick layers of newspaper and then some straw and manure and turn the bed into a hothhouse and get stuff started for transplantation elsewhere and when you move them look to plant rhubarb in the middle and something that will grow away like pumpkins etc.

Or you can build the bed with a removable front and use it as a perm potato planter and just change the soil yearly potatoes need sun but not all day and should cope

Cam

Trees not only suck up moisture, a lot of it lands on the foliage and never reaches the ground. Then you get a dry summer like this one, and the ground under them gets really dried out. A lot depends on what sort of trees they are; evergreens are by far the worst.

If veg won't grow there, you could plant shade plants; there's plenty that's adapted to grow under deciduous trees. Or maybe raspberries; they're a woodland species.

Or maybe raspberries; they're a woodland species...or blueberries in raised beds..they don't mind being under trees.

Hmm raspberries would cope with some shade would they?

I'm looking to put more in this year, so perhaps I could pop a row across and see how they do.  They'd run East - West which I suppose isn't ideal (but only a single row of 5 ish plants)....but at worse it'll be a failed experiement.  With a good soil and a nice mulch to retain any moisture, they might have a chance.  They'd also make a nice screen to hide the compost bins etc behind!

If blueberries can tolerate some shade I might also try moving mine into that area in their containers - I can always set up a bottle-drip-waterer-thingy to give them a drink over the summer, and the pots would stop tree roots causing problems.  Sounds like it couldn't possibly fail, lol.

I believe the trees are deciduous, certainly the majority are.

Thanks for all your suggestions!