Guide to using your allotment

Allotments have their own legislation which dictates how they should be used. This guide is a plain English interpretation of the legislation.

Persistently breaking any of the following rules will result in you being sent a Notice to Quit your allotment plot.

You cannot:

• sublet your plot
• use your plot for any trade or business
• transfer your tenancy if your site has a waiting list
• give your key to other people or allow them to visit your plot unsupervised
• keep cockerels, pigs, sheep or horses on your plot
• bring or use carpets on allotment plots
• have tyres on your plot. Take them to a household waste recycling centre instead
• leave rubbish at the allotment site (if you do you'll be charged for its removal)
• stay overnight on your plot
• cause a nuisance to other plot holders or neighbouring houses. Nuisances include loud music, smoking, drinking, using offensive language. Furthermore, any form of harrassment or violence on site, be it physical or verbal, will not be tolerated.
• bring firearms onto allotment sites
• enter other people's plots unless they have given you permission to do so

When you first get your plot, make sure, if there isn't one already, you put up a clearly visible number board.

If your plot is overgrown when you first rent it, you may be entitled to a discount. Get in touch with Allotments Office on allotments@bristol.gov.uk for advice.

On your plot you can:

• plant herbs, flowers, fruit and vegetables
• have fruit bushes and trees, as long as you maintain the area around them
• have a small lawned area as long as it's regularly mown
• build a pond, as long as it doesn't create a hazard for other plot holders and animals
• bring your dog, as long it's kept on a lead at all times
• ask for permission from our Allotments Office to:
  • plant dwarf rootstock fruit trees
  • keep chickens, bees or rabbits
  • erect a shed or greenhouse 

Maintaing your plot

Allotment resources

The  pdf Allotment Tenants Handbook(630 KB) is a handy guide written by volunteer allotment tenants.

It provides guidance on:

• growing food on allotments
• what you need to know about your allotment site and plot
• the rules of the Bristol City Council Tenancy Agreement

There are a number of things to think about before starting work on your allotment. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and the The National Allotment Society have advice on:

• how to get started
• the use of chemicals
• monthly tasks

Paths

Paths either side of your plot should be maintained and kept to a minimum width of 18 inches (450mm).

You cannot:

• block communal pathways or haulingways
• dig up paths between plots
• let your dog stray on to or foul other people's paths or haulingways

Hedges

You're responsible for maintaining the inside of any hedge that's adjacent to your plot.

Hosepipe Ban and Water Safety

Hosepipes

For the time being, we are banning the use of all hose pipes on sites. 

You should empty all the water from your hosepipe, coil it up and store it in a suitable location off the ground, such as a shed or at home.

Hosepipes that have not been drained of water and left in the open, can warm up and encourage the growth of bacteria. Hosepipes left in contact with the soil also encourage the growth of bacteria.

Any hosepipes found on sites, that have not been stored correctly will be disposed of by the Allotment Team

To reduce your risk of exposure to bacteria:

• Don't drink the water or wash your hands in the water from an allotment site.
• Don't spray or aspirate the water.
• Don't allow your children to play with the water.
• You should always wash your hands after using water on an allotment site.

Water troughs

Water troughs should only be used to collect irrigation water. You should only use a watering can or bucket to water your allotment.

Don't wash hands, tools, footwear, crops in your water trough. 

Remember that many allotment sites are exposed and subject to high winds.

Greenhouses

You must ask our Allotments Office for permission to have a greenhouse. Email them on allotments@bristol.gov.uk.

Glass

Glass used for cloches and cold frames must not be left lying around the site. It's a hazardous material and you could be liable if someone is injured by glass on or from your plot.

You must remove broken glass from the allotment. It mustn't be buried on the plot.

Use alternatives such as perspex glazing or polythene cloche tunnels if at all possible.

• the maximum size is 6ft x 8ft (1.8m x 2.4m)
• it must be a properly constructed 'off the shelf' greenhouse, and not made from old window panes
• glazing must be properly secured to the frame
• the structure must be secure and kept in good repair
• you may be asked to remove it or be charged for its removal if it's unsafe or in poor repair

Bonfires are allowed between the start of November and the end of March. Be considerate to neighbours when lighting fires.

If you see someone lighting a fire from April to October, report it to your site representative or contact the allotment team. Your details will stay confidential.

Deliveries

We'll remove manure if it blocks paths or vehicle access.

Take care not to damage facilities or neighbouring plots.

E.coli advice

Due to the risk associated with E.coli O157:

• you must compost fresh manure for at least 12 months before you put it on your plot
• dig manure into the ground before planting any crops
• wash hands if you handle manure
• wash all crops after picking
• don't let children handle animal manure

For more information and guidance, see Food Standards Agency: Managing Farm Manures for Food Safety.

Contaminated manure

Manure may be contaminated by Aminopyralid, a weedkiller used by farmers. It affects potatoes, tomatoes, beans, peas, and some flowers, making them stunted and unusable.

It's important to ask the farmer or stables where you get the manure that the pasture the horses were grazed on (or their hay was cut from) has not been treated with this herbicide.

Find out more from the Royal Horticultural Society website.

Pesticides are mostly chemical substances prepared or used to destroy harmful pests. By their very nature pesticides pose a potential hazard to the user, others in the area during and after use, and can have a bad effect on the environment if used incorrectly.

• Royal Horticultural Society: Pesticides for home gardeners
• Pesticide information from the Health and Safety Directorate.
• Organic gardening information from Garden Organic

You can sell extra produce from your allotment garden, including jam or chutney.

Find out about:

• selling allotment produce on the Sustain website
• renting a council market pitch

You must get permission from the Allotments Office if you want to erect or move a shed on your plot. Email them on allotments@bristol.gov.uk. 

You must allow allotment staff to enter your shed if they request to.

Keeping your shed secure

To help keep your shed secure: 

• don't leave expensive items such as machinery in your shed as these tend to be targeted by thieves
• always use coach bolts to secure hinges and hasps to doors
• always use closed shackle padlocks as these are more difficult to cut with bolt cutters
• if you can, plant thorny shrubs such as hawthorn, pyracantha, berberis or brambles around vulnerable boundaries to prevent access to sites

Use your allotment plot for wildlife

While allotment plots are mainly for growing food, there are some features you can add to your plot to create space for wildlife.

For example, you could add a:

• log pile
• herb garden

Contact the allotment team if you'd like to add a:

• fruit tree
• small wildlife pond

Use an area in your allotment site for wildlife

If there's a larger area of your allotment site that's not suitable for growing food, you could use this to create an allocated wildlife space. If you're interested in this, speak to your allotment site representatives or email allotments@bristol.gov.uk

Any changes should be in line with the pdf Bristol Allotments Tenants Handbook(630 KB) .

You should also read our:

• pdf allotments terms and conditions(80 KB)

A wildlife space in an allotment site could include:

• managed scrub
• tussocky grassland
• a fruit tree
• a wildflower meadow
• a small wildlife pond
• a log pile
• a gravel garden
• a bee bank
• shade-tolerant wildflower area
• a herb garden

Stapleton Allotment Pollinator Garden

In 2023, we created a pollinator-friendly and drought-resistant demonstration garden at Stapleton Allotments.

This was funded by the West of England Combined Authority Bee Bold Pollinator Fund.

This is to show Bristol allotment holders how they can create spaces for wildlife in their allotment plot, an allocated wildlife space in an allotment site, or at home.

Our  pdf pollinator garden(74 KB)  includes a range of features, including:

• bramble and mixed scrub
• a fruit tree
• tussocky grassland
• wildflower meadow
• a pond
• a log pile
• a gravel garden
• a bee bank
• a herb garden

Find more pdf details on these features and how to create them(231 KB) .

Here are some groups you may want to link up with:

Feed Bristol
Bristol Food Network
Incredible Edible Bristol
Avon Organic Group
Knowle West Let's Grow
Easton Community Garden
Golden Hill Community Garden
Sims Hill Shared Harvest
St Werburghs City Farm
Lawrence Weston Community Farm
Windmill Hill City Farm
Hartcliffe City Farm

Some useful organisations:

Garden Organic
Permaculture Association
National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners
Royal Horticultural Society
The Soil Association

Allotment news:

pdf Growers Gravepine September 2016(64 KB)

If you change your address, email allotments@bristol.gov.uk so we can update our records.

When vacating your plot, you must remove all belongings within 2 weeks.

You must pay any rent owed.

An outbreak of European Foul Brood in honey bees has been confirmed on an allotment site in Bristol.

Please check your own hives and take any necessary action. How to spot European Foul Brood (EFB) on The National Bee unit website.

An Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) began on noon Saturday, January 25, 2025.

This because of a rise in cases of bird flu in poultry across new areas, and the ongoing risk to poultry and other kept birds.

This new rule applies to all areas of England. It requires better biosecurity measures, but you don't need to house birds.

You can find more information here: Avian Influenza Prevention Zone Declared.

If you own captive birds, you must be registered with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) from October 2024. To register, visit: Register as a Keeper of Less Than 50 Poultry or Other Captive Birds.

If you keep poultry, rabbits, or bees on an allotment, you need permission from the allotment office, as stated in your tenancy agreement.