Allotment in Autumn

Autumn on the allotment is a bit of a mixed bag.

On one hand, everything starts looking tired and untidy. Plants are collapsing, weeds are taking advantage of the cooler weather and there are leaves everywhere.

On the other hand, there is something quite satisfying about it. The frantic growing season is over, the pressure has eased and you can finally start getting the plot back under control.

Although it is tempting to ignore the allotment until spring, a little work now will make life much easier later.

Do not try to clear the whole plot in one day

This is the first thing I would say to anyone with an allotment that has become overgrown.

Do not look at the entire plot and decide you are going to clear it all in one heroic weekend. You probably will not, and then you will feel as though you have failed before you have even started.

Pick one area.

Clear one bed, sort one corner or deal with the path that is becoming impossible to walk down. Once you can see some progress, the rest of the plot will feel much less overwhelming.

Clear finished crops

Remove vegetables that have finished producing and plants that are no longer doing anything useful.

Old courgette plants, tired bean plants, bolting salad and collapsed leaves can all make the plot look worse than it actually is. Clearing them gives you more space and allows you to see what needs doing next.

If a plant is healthy, it can usually go onto the compost heap. Diseased plants should not be added to ordinary compost, as you may simply spread the problem around the plot.

Leave some things in the ground

Not everything needs to be cleared immediately.

Parsnips, carrots, leeks and some hardy crops can remain in the ground for later harvesting. In fact, leaving some crops in place can be useful because you can harvest them when you need them rather than having everything ready at once.

Just make sure you know what is still growing. There is nothing more annoying than accidentally digging up something you were planning to eat in December.

Deal with the weeds while they are smaller

Autumn weeds can be sneaky. The ground may look fairly bare, but there can still be plenty of young weeds establishing themselves.

Try to remove them before they have a chance to flower and set seed. You do not need to obsess over every tiny weed, but clearing the larger ones now will save you a lot of work in spring.

This is also a good time to deal with perennial weeds and their roots. They are not going to disappear simply because the weather has turned colder.

Look after the soil

Bare soil can quickly become compacted and beaten down by autumn and winter rain.

Once a bed has been cleared, add compost, well-rotted manure or another suitable organic matter. You can either dig it in lightly or leave it on the surface for the worms and weather to work through.

If you are not using a bed yet, cover it with cardboard and compost or another method allowed by your allotment site. This can help suppress weeds and protect the soil.

Do check the rules first, because allotment sites can have very specific opinions about what you are allowed to use.

Plant garlic and onions

Autumn is a good time to plant garlic and overwintering onion sets.

Choose a spot with good drainage. Garlic really does not appreciate sitting in cold, wet soil all winter.

Plant the cloves with the pointed end facing upwards and give them enough space to grow. It may not look like much is happening for a while, but they will establish roots before winter and get going again when the weather improves.

Collect leaves

There will probably be leaves everywhere, particularly if your allotment is near trees.

Rather than treating them all as a nuisance, collect them separately and make leaf mould. It takes time, but it is a useful soil improver and costs nothing.

A simple pile of damp leaves left to break down can eventually become lovely crumbly material for the garden. It is not instant, but gardening rarely is.

Check your structures before the wind arrives

Autumn is a good time to check:

• fences

• sheds

• greenhouse panels

• netting

• fruit cages

• plant supports

• canes and ties

• water butts

• paths and gates

Anything loose in October has a good chance of becoming much worse during a winter storm.

It is much easier to repair a wobbly support now than to find it halfway across the plot after a night of strong wind.

Make the plot wildlife-friendly

You do not need to clear every stem and tidy every corner.

Some old stems, seed heads and untidy areas provide food and shelter for insects and birds. A completely spotless allotment may look neat, but it is not necessarily the most useful space for wildlife.

Leave a few areas alone if you can. There is a difference between being untidy and being completely overrun.

Keep going, but know when to stop

The days are shorter, the weather is less predictable and everything takes longer when the ground is wet.

There is no prize for staying on the allotment until you are cold, muddy and completely fed up. Do a useful job, tidy your tools and go home while you still feel reasonably positive about coming back.

A plot is never truly finished. There will always be another weed, another repair or another job waiting.

Final thoughts

Autumn is not about making the allotment look perfect. It is about getting it into a better state for winter and making spring easier for yourself.

Clear what needs clearing, leave what can stay, improve the soil and deal with the jobs that will cause problems later.

Even if you only manage one bed or one corner, that is still progress.

The allotment does not need to be perfect. It just needs to be somewhere you can keep coming back to.