Preparing an Allotment for Winter Weather

Why Autumn Work Pays Off in Spring

There is a particular kind of quiet on an allotment in late October. The bean wigwams are bare, the courgette plants have collapsed into a soggy heap, and the light has that low, slanted quality that tells you the growing year is closing down. It is tempting to lock the gate and retreat to the shed with a flask. Resist that urge. The few weekends you spend now, before the ground stiffens and the gales arrive, will save you a fortnight of scrambling in March — and they will leave your soil in far better heart when the first warm days come.

Winter preparation is not about tidying for appearances. It is about protecting the structure of your plot, feeding the soil life that keeps working under the surface, and removing the hiding places where pests and disease will otherwise sit out the cold months. Work through the jobs below in order of what matters most, and don't worry if you don't finish everything before the first hard frost.

Clear Spent Crops and Burn Nothing Useful

Start with the beds that have finished. Pull up runner bean haulms and cut them into short lengths for the compost heap — they break down faster that way. Tomato and potato foliage should go in the council green waste bin or be burned rather than composted, because blight spores survive a cool home heap and will reinfect next year's crop. The same goes for any brassica stems showing clubroot; bag them and bin them.

Once the tops are off, lift the roots. Leaving carrots, parsnips and beetroot in the ground through winter sounds appealing, but slugs, mice and hard frosts will take their share. Lift what you need, twist off the foliage rather than cutting it, and store the roots in damp sand in a cool shed.

• Cut down autumn raspberry canes that have fruited and tie in the new ones.
• Prune out old blackcurrant and gooseberry wood to open up the bush.
• Remove any crop debris sheltering slugs and vine weevil larvae.
• Weed thoroughly before mulching — hoeing annual weeds now prevents thousands of seeds germinating in spring.

Feed the Ground and Cover It

Bare soil is vulnerable soil. Winter rain pounds it flat, leaches out nutrients and washes the top layer into your paths. The remedy is simple: spread well-rotted manure or garden compost over the surface and let the worms do the digging for you. A layer 5cm to 8cm deep is plenty on most plots. You don't need to dig it in — the frosts will break up the clods, and the worms will pull the organic matter down through the winter.

If you don't have enough compost, cover the ground instead. Sheets of black polythene, weighted at the corners with bricks, or thick layers of cardboard topped with a little soil will do the job. Both suppress weeds and keep the worst of the rain off. Leafmould is another useful ally: sweep up fallen leaves, stuff them into bin bags punched with a few holes, and leave them behind the shed for a year or two. You will have a free, crumbly mulch that is perfect for the fruit cage.

On heavy clay, though, don't blanket everything. Clay needs to drain. Leave a few beds rough-dug so the frost can get into the clods and improve the structure, and check that your paths are not damming water against the beds.

Check Stakes, Nets and Everything That Catches Wind

Gales do more damage to an allotment than frost ever will. A net thrown off a fruit cage in January lets the pigeons in for weeks before you notice. Walk the plot on a dry day and test every structure by hand.

• Push down loose stakes and re-tie tree ties, leaving room for the trunk to swell.
• Replace rotten wooden posts before they snap under load.
• Secure netting with ground pegs or a weighted skirt of soil, not just a few bricks.
• Dismantle bean wigwams and store the canes under cover so they last another season.
• Check cloches, fleece tunnels and polytunnels — a hoop that has worked loose will lift in the first strong gust.

If you use horticultural fleece to protect winter salad or young broad beans, fix it firmly at both ends and along the sides. Frost is rarely the killer; wind chill and flapping fabric are.

Shed Roofs, Gutters and Tools

Climb up and look at the shed roof with a critical eye. Felt lifts at the corners, and once water gets underneath, the boards beneath rot quickly. A tube of roof sealant and an hour's work now is much cheaper than a new shed in February. Clear leaves from gutters and set a water butt on a firm base so it doesn't split when it freezes.

Inside, give your tools some attention. Clean soil off spades and forks, dry them, and wipe metal surfaces with an oily rag. Sharpen the hoe and the secateurs. Drain or store the hose so it doesn't crack. Hang everything off the floor, where damp rises.

Plant Something for an Early Start

Don't leave the plot entirely empty. Garlic planted in November and broad beans sown in a sheltered spot will both crop earlier than spring plantings, and they make good use of ground that would otherwise sit idle. Rhubarb crowns benefit from a thick mulch of manure, and a bucket placed over a crown in January gives you pale, tender stems in early spring.

Finally, take a notebook and sketch the plot as it stands. Note what grew well, what bolted, and where the shade falls. Winter is long, and a plan made while the details are fresh will guide you better than any seed catalogue when the new season begins.