Allotment Planner - Get the Most From Your Plot

A classic full allotment plot is around 250 square meters - enough space to feed a household, and enough that a poor layout wastes real growing area. The plots that produce well year after year are almost always the ones that were planned on paper (or on screen) before the first bed went in.

Bed orientation comes first. Running beds north to south gives most crops even light along the row, though on a sloped or shaded plot the site can override the rule. Use the sun position tool to check how light actually moves across your plot before you commit.

Path widths are a constant trade-off. Main paths need to take a loaded wheelbarrow, so keep at least one route through the plot generously wide; between beds, narrower paths reclaim space for growing. Laying this out tile by tile makes the trade-off visible.

Structures and services round out the plan. Put the shed where it will not shade a bed, place compost bins where barrow runs are short, and make sure the water butt sits within hose reach of the thirstiest beds. A few minutes moving tiles now saves seasons of hauling cans.

Rotation is the backbone of allotment growing: moving plant families between beds each season keeps soil-borne pests and diseases from building up and lets each crop follow the one that feeds it best.

The classic four-bed rotation divides the plot into roots, brassicas, legumes, and everything else, with each group shifting one bed along each year. It is simple in principle and surprisingly easy to lose track of by year three, which is exactly where a visual planner earns its keep.

Mapping the rotation visually means the plan survives from season to season. Assign each bed a plant family, step forward through the seasons, and see next year's layout before you order seed. Field notes on each bed record what actually happened, so the plan and the plot stay in sync.