Gardens:Louisa Pearson follows the plot

WHAT happens when a Chelsea gold winner takes on an allotment?

Allotments come in all shapes and sizes and despite the creativity and colour that many display, you wouldn’t expect them to win any garden design awards. So what happens when a six-time Chelsea gold medal winner takes on an allotment? That’s the question answered by Cleve West, this year’s Chelsea Best in Show winner, in a new book called Our Plot (£20, Frances Lincoln).

West acquired an allotment 12 years ago at Bushy Park in London, but far from treating it like a show garden, he’s experienced the same ups and downs as any new allotment holder. “I suppose the aesthetics do matter a little to me, but there’s never enough time to get it exactly the way you want it so I gave up worrying about this years ago,” he says. “The best thing about the allotment is that, aside from keeping it in reasonably good shape, it’s not scrutinised like a show garden. I don’t think people expect it to look amazing and, frankly, it doesn’t. Like most vegetable gardens, it’s always in a state of flux.” Despite this, the colourful photographs in the book show a garden that’s easy on the eye – rustic sculptures compete with runner bean towers for attention, while even the “wonky shed” with its green roof has a certain charm.

Unlike other books on allotments, this one isn’t a reference guide for growing crops. Instead it catalogues the lessons learned and experiences enjoyed by West. “There are so many books, not to mention internet sites, that cover the ‘how-to’ angle for growing veg, that I wanted to show the bigger picture, the ups and the downs, so that anyone thinking of taking on an allotment would get a clearer picture as to what they are letting themselves in for,” he says. West certainly isn’t afraid of sharing his failures – he writes about his first year at the allotment where his embarrassing harvest consisted of one strawberry and a sackful of potatoes. He admits he and his partner Christine disregarded good advice (particularly on the subject of crop protection) from friendly neighbours, some of whom had been gardening there for 30 years, and paid the price. Over time and as he got to know his fellow allotment-holders, he began to pick up plenty of useful tips which have resulted in a more productive plot.

We are introduced to his gardening neighbours via the pages of the book and it sounds like a vibrant community, but West admits that the social side of allotment gardening took him somewhat by surprise. “Many people, including myself, still appreciate the solitude of gardening,” he says. “People, however, enrich the experience of allotment culture to a point where it’s difficult to imagine life without them. The weird thing is that we rarely socialise away from the plot. It’s like having a secret family that exists only within the walls of Bushy Park Allotment.”

The images of West’s plot show plenty of flowers but he says this isn’t a trend he’s created, pointing out that cutting flowers in particular, and traditionally chrysanthemums and dahlias have always been part of allotment culture. He feels that a growing interest in biodiversity and more appreciation of the leisure side of allotments means that a much broader palette of flowers is being used, and as a designer, he’s lucky enough to have plants left over from projects that occasionally find their way to the allotment. Favourite blooms include the California poppy (which arrived on its own rather than being planted) with its fresh orange petals, and Love-in-a-Mist, a keen self-seeder with vivid blue flowers that attract bees to the site.

The wildlife experienced at the allotment is another area West discusses and as a vegetarian, he has an all-embracing attitude to creatures great and small. “Both Christine and I enjoy the wildlife that shares the allotment with us,” he says. “Sometimes it gets a bit fraught when things get eaten (feeding slugs to someone’s chickens shows that I do have a breaking point) but watching the food chain in action is always fascinating.” West also finds inspiration in the creative potential of allotments – pointing out that there are no restrictions on the sorts of materials used, meaning you can recycle old items to create something useful or artistic. Large wigwams of hazel sticks tied at the top with a ball of chain have become one of his signature structures.

As well as growing food, West has increasingly used his allotment as a destination for cooking his produce. He says it started off when he turned a large slab of oak left over from a show garden at Chelsea into a table. Next came a small gas stove, the occasional bonfire and eventually an earth oven, making it a more attractive place for family and friends to visit. “The earth oven has become a social hub, the hearth of the plot if you like,” he says. “It takes a bit of faff to get it going but it’s always a memorable experience when we do and it really does make perfect pizza.”

For all the good times there are also negatives – occasional bouts of vandalism and theft, for example, but the biggest challenge for West seems to be never having enough time to keep on top of things. “As much as I love the allotment and the friends we have made there I think I would happily swap it for a house with a garden big enough to grow food,” he says. “Stepping out of your back door to hand-pick slugs would be luxury and much more manageable.” Despite this hankering for a large kitchen garden at home, West continues to plan ahead for his allotment, recently planting eight fruit trees and building a fourth shed. He hopes that Our Plot will help prospective allotment holders prepare for the hard work that’s in store when you take on a plot, but also give them a taste of the rewards.