[Flashard]

Hello there, we recently moved to a new house in Berkshire and the residence have a communial piece of land that we are considering cultivating a part of.

The best location from a useage point of view is at the far end of the plot, measures around 25 metres by 25 metres but is shaded by tall evergreens that are direclty adjacent at the south of thre area and is west facing so only gets the mid to late afternoon sun.

My questrion is, is there any point in cultivating a plot of this size and in this location?

 Thank you in advance for any advice/guidance

Regards

[Kleftiwallah]

"Communial ground"  sounds like an ideal chance for someone to start laying down the law and sticking their nose in with criticism  :mad:and grudges !  I should get it down on paper what you are about to do informing all other residents.

The ground beneath tall evergreens is notoriously dry, lacking in nutrient and acid from fallen leaves.  Plus the amount of sun doesn't sound enough.   How is that for a wet blanket? ? ?   I should think long and hard about this project, but if you gop ahead I wish you the best.     Cheers,    Tony.

[mumofstig]

Welcome to the forum
size wise it's fine, but I have reservations about the tree roots and the light levels.

You could always start small scale with the area furthest from the conifers and see what the ground is like, how many tree roots are there. It may need a lot of manure/compost in the first few years, and feeding during the growing season, until the soil is improved.

My garden faces west and next door have tall conifers and in winter they do cast a lot of shade. However in summer there is easily enough light for crops

Good luck

[viettaclark]

You say "evergreens". Does that mean fir? Ground under trees is usually quite acid, particularly with firs.
There are ways of getting over that...liming or using mushroom compost which has lime in it and clearing fallen leaves.
I have tried growing stuff where a fir was and it DOES grow with lots of muck added.
The light thing is more difficult but many crops will tolerate a bit of shade...some even prefer it.
Have a think about it and do some research....
Good luck and good growing!

[compostqueen]

Have a look at what's growing there already

You could make it work as you could put site huts and compost bins in the least fertile parts of the site, or car parking etc and put the growing area in the bit that gets most light

I wouldn't be a negative as Kleftiwotsit. Communal growing can be very enjoyable indeed and lots of people do it quite harmoniously