Stoney Road Gardens Association

Around allotment sites, you will sometimes hear gardeners claim that they are ‘partly organic’ or ‘organic in some things’, position statements which others find unintelligible or even downright illogical. But it does raise the interesting question of whether there are, in fact, shades of organicness in gardening. At one level, the answer is a definite 'no'.

There are so many reasons to garden organically that it actually makes more sense to turn the question around and ask: Why garden chemically? But here, if you need them, are five good reasons for switching to an organic approach.

These days, gardening is a multi-million pound industry, complete with professional designers, exotic plants and huge retail warehouses. And although the philosophy which underpins the organic alternative was developed before the days of garden centres, extreme makeovers and celebrities in green wellies, it is, in some ways, the antidote to them.

Research suggests that many new allotment holders now aspire to garden organically. It's a wonderful dream, but how realistic is it? This section contains articles on the pros and cons of the organic approach and the philosophy behind it, as well as practical suggestions on what works and what doesn't.