When landscape designer Laara Copley-Smith spends a Sunday afternoon in her vegetable garden, she doesn't step into the backyard. Instead she tucks into her plot of community garden — known as an allotment in the U.K. — five minutes from her Surrey, England, home.

Copley-Smith rents this 255-square-meter (2,700-square-foot) piece of land from the local parish and and manages it. Throughout the country, land plots like this have been set aside for local residents to garden and grow crops in. For Copley-Smith, it’s a wonderful opportunity to expand her home's garden beyond one planted completely with boxwood.

“As a professional designer, I feel it is important to work with the soil, grow plants from tiny seedlings and learn by mistakes — experiment,” she says. This mantra extends beyond the professional field, serving as an important lesson to all gardeners, especially those with access to this much gardening space.
Laara Copley-Smith Garden & Landscape Design “In high summer I have so much, and I love harvest time. Often I will just pop to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables for that evening," Copley-Smith says. Any leftovers are shared with neighbors; nothing is wasted.

She varies her crop annually, based on previous successes and failures and what she would like to eat throughout the year. Squash, pumpkin, spinach, young kale, cauliflower and broccoli are among the crops here. “One cannot underestimate the effect, powerful presence and healing capacity that the garden and gardening can have in someone’s life,” Copley-Smith, shown here, says. “Gardening in any capacity is worthy of your time and energy.” Laara Copley-Smith Garden & Landscape Design “Growing food crops organically, working with the weather, seasonal changes and learning patience are all elements which will expand one’s professional skills,” she says.

Here netting protects cabbage from birds and cabbage white butterfly. Laara Copley-Smith Garden & Landscape Design The history of allotment parcels spans more than a century; some references go as far back as the time of the Saxons, when cleared land sometimes would be jointly held.

The Small Holdings and Allotment Act of 1908 was the first modern legislation regarding these plots. Subsequent acts passed throughout the century often coincided with wartime and periods of economic turmoil — times when demand for homegrown food was high. Today, waiting lists point to allotments' increasing popularity.

Shown: Radicchio, zucchini flower, oak leaf lettuce and plums from Copley-Smith's garden Laara Copley-Smith Garden & Landscape Design Tirza spinach thrives in the cool season. Laara Copley-Smith Garden & Landscape Design Gardeners embrace allotment gardening as an opportunity to grow their own produce, but there's more than vegetables to be gleaned from the plot. An annual bonfire is held to burn all diseased plant matter. Local residents attend, many of whom have worked the plot for decades. Life stories and years of gardening knowledge bring neighbors of diverse ages, backgrounds and personalities together.

And while Copley-Smith notes that socializing can be a component of allotment gardening, you can choose your own experience, she emphasizes: "One can potter and do your own thing, or you can engage with others in conversation." Laara Copley-Smith Garden & Landscape Design Shallots grow in neat rows. Laara Copley-Smith Garden & Landscape Design Inspired by the design of traditional kitchen gardens, but with the practicality needed for managing such an extensive area, Copley-Smith designed a garden that's beautiful both for its simplicity and productivity.

Raised beds and pathways dominate her garden's design. Oversize timber beds can be built up if she chooses to deepen the beds. Unpaved pathways allow for quick changes. The main paths are 60 centimeters (2 feet) wide, and some of the side paths are slimmer. Before Photo Laara Copley-Smith Garden & Landscape Design She built a shed in back for tools and supplies. Laara Copley-Smith Garden & Landscape Design Veronicastrum, sedum and Perovskia fill these summer beds. Copley-Smith will add netting to protect the crops from the fox cubs who love to jump in. Laara Copley-Smith Garden & Landscape Design Veronicastrum and aster seed heads emerge early in the season. Laara Copley-Smith Garden & Landscape Design One area is dedicated to pollinator-attracting perennials. Copley-Smith adores flowers and notes how they always complement the vegetable garden.

Here we see Veronicastrum, panicum grass, sedum just peeking through foxgloves, white and purple phlox, and poppy lavender. She also grows Helenium, asters, lavender, hydrangeas, roses, Agastache, tulips, ornamental onions, Perovskia, poppies and anything else that will fit. Laara Copley-Smith Garden & Landscape Design Lavender, sweet peas, Perovskia and gaura in summer. Laara Copley-Smith Garden & Landscape Design Rotating the crops and amending the soil with organic matter and leaf molds ensure healthy crops. Interplanting edibles with companion plants is also important. Copley-Smith even intentionally allows some edibles to flower and self-seed. Here she grows Veronicastrum, aster and Perovskia.

Pollinator plants attract natural fauna, but sometimes staying hands off encourages wildlife most; Copley-Smith keeps a stack of logs as a habitat and cuts back spent grasses and shrubs only after the threat of winter has passed, to provide shelter and food for wildlife over winter.
Laara Copley-Smith Garden & Landscape Design Miscanthus, deschampsia and panicum grasses in late winter.

Look into what others in your community have done, Copley-Smith says. “Success comes with experimenting, time, patience, researching, reading and giving time to something.”

More info:
The National Allotment Society | American Community Gardening Association