Lambhill Allotment Design
Location: Lambhill Allotments, Glasgow
Timeline: 2013-2016
Users: Family with three young children (ages 1-9)
The Challenge
Design a productive allotment space that worked for a family with very young children, located several miles from home with access only by bike via the canal path. The plot was large and under-developed, requiring restoration while meeting multiple needs: food production, outdoor learning space, wildlife habitat, and somewhere to escape city life.
Design Approach
Rather than trying to cultivate the entire large plot immediately, we phased the design to match what the family could realistically maintain while children were small. This meant:
- Prioritizing areas closest to water access and shelter
- Creating zones: productive beds, wild areas, play/rest space
- Building in wildlife from the start (pond, wildflower areas, nettle patches)
- Using found materials and plants already on site (comfrey, coltsfoot)
- Planning for transport: what we grew had to be worth carrying home by bike
What We Did
- Established productive beds for leafy greens, root crops, potatoes, and alliums
- Created designated wildlife areas supporting pollinators and biodiversity
- Installed a small pond and planted bee-friendly perennials
- Preserved beneficial wild plants (nettles for biodiversity, comfrey for fertilizer)
- Designed the space so children could engage safely at different ages and abilities
- Made the plot a destination for extended time, not just quick visits
Outcomes
- Two years of substantial harvests: regular bags of vegetables throughout growing seasons
- Multi-generational outdoor education space used in all weather
- Successful integration of food production with wildlife habitat
- Children developed practical growing skills and connection to food cycles
- Demonstrated how family-scale allotments can serve multiple functions beyond pure production
- Shared harvests with other plot holders, building allotment community
What Made It Work
The design succeeded because we planned for real constraints: young children’s needs and attention spans, distance from home, limited time. By accepting we wouldn’t be “self-sufficient” but could still have abundant harvests and rich experiences, the space became sustainable to maintain and genuinely useful rather than an overwhelming project.
A part of the plan covered.
The Design
Four Year Rotation Plan
| Year | Bed One | Bed Two | Bed Three | Bed Four |
| 2021 | Kohl Rabi; Swiss Chard, Beetroot | Parsnips | Kale Pak Choi | Perpetual Spinach |
| 2022 | Parsnips | Kale, Pak Choi | Perpetual Spinach | Kohl Rabi, Swiss Chard |
| 2023 | Kale Pak Choi | Perpetual Spinach | Kohl Rabi, Swiss Chard | Parsnips |
| 2024 | Perpetual Spinach | Kohl Rabi,Swiss Chard | Parsnips | Kale, Pak Choi |
REFLECTION
It was so helpful to run through this detailed plan and I have learned a lot about a variety of tools in permaculture and how/when it is appropriate to use them.
In one way it was such a small plot that it feels like it is extensive in comparison to just jumping in and doing a straightforward planting plan but it hasn’t been getting the full use in the past few years so thinking about zoning and areas has actually made it much more simple for the years to come.
This is obviously the goal for permaculture design – not making it more complex but because this particular allotment design had been started and not finished for a couple of years in a row it really deserved some specific thought put into zones. This is also true because we have a variety of different growing spaces and it was important to work out what plants to grow where to utilise what we had more efficiently and include time distance and effort into our considerations.
Having a four year planting plan psychologically takes a lot of weight off of my mind as in this space every year we were starting from scratch.
Having a clear space for perennials has also clarified a lot and I feel really excited about the bulk harvest we will be cropping later this year.
Looking at what we want to grow, I want to think through each one with relation to companion planting and also with regard to the zones being our two allotments and home growing spaces.
OVERVIEW OF PLANTS AND NEEDS WITH REGARD TO ZONES
| Crop Type | Needs | Best Location(s) |
| Kale | Less intense care, Rotation, Netting | Rotating. Beds either allotment. Zone 3 |
| Salads | Frequent care and picking | Home, Zone 2 Garden |
| Roots ( Beets, Carrot, Parsnip) | Stability, water, Good soil ( drainage for carrots) | Could be Home – Garden Zone 2 or Allotment |
| Brassicas | Rotation, Netting Various | Preferably allotment |
| Tomatoes/ Cucumbers | Indoors, Polytunnel | Polytunnel shared or Glasshouses at home |
| Flowers ( companion friendly) | Intercropping everywhere. | Good everywhere |
| Fruit Bushes | Need to stay where they are will keep growing.Need minimal care once established | Allotment |
| Rocket and Sorrel | Good intercropping and ground cover | Allotment |
REFLECTION
It was so helpful to run through this detailed plan and I have learned a lot about a variety of tools in permaculture and how/when it is appropriate to use them.
In one way it was such a small plot that it feels like it is extensive in comparison to just jumping in and doing a straightforward planting plan but it hasn’t been getting the full use in the past few years so thinking about zoning and areas has actually made it much more simple for the years to come.
This is obviously the goal for permaculture design – not making it more complex but because this particular allotment design had been started and not finished for a couple of years in a row it really deserved some specific thought put into zones. This is also true because we have a variety of different growing spaces and it was important to work out what plants to grow where to utilise what we had more efficiently and include time, distance and effort into our considerations.
Having a four year planting plan psychologically takes a lot of weight off of my mind as in this space every year we were starting from scratch.
Having a clear space for perennials has also clarified a lot and I feel really excited about the bulk harvest we will be cropping later this year.
Priya Logan 