To sprinkle or not to sprinkle

I've heard a rumour the Council is about to ban the use of sprinklers at allotment sites in Wakefield.

Possible reasons are that sprinklers reduce water pressure for other users. Not true in my experience. If someone else on the plot turns on a tap then my sprinklers stops. Some evenings last summer it was not possible to use a sprinkler as there was insufficient pressure as watering cans were being filled and hose pipes used to water withering veg.

At some sites sprinklers were left on all day I've heard. Why then punish all rather than targeting anyone abusing the system. Why not initially ask allotment holders not to do this otherwise the use of sprinklers will be banned? How will any of these policies be policed? What happens if allotment holders still leave sprinklers sprinkling all day?

Any comments.

Encouraging wildlife onto your plot

With many natural wildlife habitats having been destroyed it is more and more important that we do what we can to provide wildlife with alternative homes. Many gardeners are also very enthusiastic about wildlife preservation. The following link will take you to "Wildlife on Allotments". This is a very interesting publication by English Nature containing lots of idea on how you can encourage wildlife onto your plot.

Wildlife on Allotments


This photo was taken after moving a pile of straw, needless to say the straw was put back and that part of the plot left undisturbed until we were sure the hedgehogs had gone. Always move piles of compost, allotment rubbish etc carefully many animals consider piles such as these to be ideal winter hideaways or nesting sites. Never set light to a bonfire that has been left in situ, move the materials to a new site and then burn.

Click here for more information

The pile of straw covering dahlias over winter was taken over by nesting bumble bees. They were no problem and had left by the time the dahlias were ready to flower.

What wildlife have you found on your plot?

Other Links
Garden Ponds and Boggy Areas

Allotment News

Do you want to share your thoughts?

Use the comments link from this post to share information, thoughts and ideas.

Do you want to be a member of our Blog team?

If you become a member of the blog team you will be able to make a posting (like this), blogs can be a mixture of text, web links and images. They also invite comments from other readers.

You may want to share your favourite recipe, your successes and failures, gardening tips, photos etc.

To be a member of this blog, you will need to rent an allotment plot on the Green Lane site, although in some circumstances members other than this may be approved.

If you wish to be considered for membership of the team then you should email by clicking here.

Please state your real name, your email address and your plot number. You will then be invited to be a member of the team by email with instructions on how to respond and how to make a posting.

Adding Comments

If you are not a member of this blog and do not have a blogger account you can still post comments. The name that you wish to use can be added within the comment.

1. Enter your comment into the box provided.
2. Click inside the radio button next to Other or Anonymous.
3. You do not have to enter any information in the input boxes
4. Copy the letters and numbers into the input box (this is to ensure that you are in fact a person and not a machine)!!
5. Click on Submit
6. You may have to refresh your browser for you comment to appear.

When making a comment you should observe web etiquette. Any comment that is considered to be offensive will be removed by the moderator.