Community garden organisers face a number of challenges:

• finding land
• convincing the landholder that you will manage the land in a responsible manner
• finding public liability insurance
• managing the site
• accessing training for the gardeners
• raising startup and onging funds
• maintaining the interest of gardeners.

Finding land

If you are a community worker, then you might consider the grounds of health or community centres or other community support facilities. The grounds of government housing estates have been made available for community gardens for people living on the estates.

If you are a member of a community group, you can either:

• ask your local council about land which they might be willing to make available
• look around for unused land, then find out who owns it and contact the owner about access.

Building credibility

A well researched and written submission will go a long way to convincing the landholder and your local council staff or elected councillors that your group is responsible.

In your submission, include information such as:

• the purpose of your proposed community garden (eg. building a sense of community; improving family nutrition; environmental improvement etc)
• the objectives of your garden group – what you plan to do to achieve your purpose the beneficiaries of your community garden – who they are (socioeconomic or demographic description); why they deserve to benefit
• benefit of the garden to the local area – environmental improvement, regreening the suburb, safe place for families with children, adult and environmental education, recreation etc
• how the garden will benefit your local government – such as the implementation of council policies on waste minimisation (through composting and use of recycled materials), waste education (waste minimisation and composting classes), Agenda 21, community health programs (access to fresh, nutritious food), access to the space for non-gardeners for passive uses, positive public perception of council support for the garden etc
• an estimated budget for garden development and maintenance and potential sources of funding you have identified (grants, membership fees, fundraising events etc)
• an estimated timeline covering the planning, design and construction phases of your garden’s development; allow plenty of time if the garden is to be constructed by voluntary labour
• risk assessment – what the risks involved in gardening and caring for the site might be and how you will design the site/ educate the gardeners to minimise risk)
• management plan outline – how you will care for the land once the garden is complete
• training and induction of new gardeners
• proposed legal structure for access to land – peppercorn lease etc
• structures for the gardeners to make decisions and solve problems
• community garden liaison person – contact details for a person who will act as a point of contact between council and the gardeners.

Public liability insurance

Public liability provides insurance covers legal liability in the case of a person injuring themselves in the garden and seeking a damages or injury payout in court.

Public liability insurance is paid annually and is expensive. Obtaining funding for insurance can present gardeners with a real challenge. Some gardens may choose not to take out public liability, however they then carry the legal risk.

If your garden is on council land you might ask council if they will extend their public liability insurance to cover it.

Managing the site

How you will manage the garden shoould be outlined in a brief management plan. It should cover activities that need doing regularly, such as:

• mowing the grass
• monitoring the site for noxious or undesirable weeds
• monitoring the site for safety
• maintaining any shared gardening areas
• keeping structures such as tool sheds and pergolas in good repair
• maintaining the aesthetics and tidiness of the site.

Training for gardeners

New gardeners without skills will need training in organic gardening techniques.

This might be obtainable from either experienced community gardeners or from organic gardeners from out of the area.

A basic set of gardening skills includes:

• soil testing – pH (acidity/ alkalinity, texture, structure)
• methods of soil improvement
• producing compost
• using mulch
• garden construction
• path construction
• plant propagation (starting plants from seeds or cuttings)
• planting patterns (close planting, clustering etc)
• integrated pest management
• irrigation.

Maintaining interest

A characteristic on many community gardens is that participation in the garden fluctuates. Sometimes, there will be a waiting list of people who want to join the garden. Other times there might be so few gardeners that maintaining the site is a challenge.

What you do to maintain a steady participation rate will depend on the circumstances of the gardeners themselves. One approach is to build into the operation of the garden some non-gardening activities such as cooking classes (using produce from the garden), workshops, social, arts and peformance (music, poetry and book readings) events.

Assessing requests in councils

When presented with a request or submission for assistance with a community garden, council staff might assess it by asking whether the proposal:

• could be linked to council policy such as Agenda 21, waste education, open space provision, recreational and health policies
• has addressed risk such as site safety
• identifies how the gardeners will maintain aesthetic qualities appropriate to the use of the site as a garden; council and government landscape designers should remember that, visually, a community garden may be an agricultural rather than an urban park landscape
• will not conflict with adjacent landuses
• will make use of environmentally safe gardening techniques that carry little health risk, such as organic gardening
• will retain public access to the garden grounds relative to the need for opening times and site security, especially if the garden is fenced
• will improve the local natural and social environment through regreening and provision of safe public space
• will reflect positively on council; if council provides substantial support, perhaps the gardeners would agree to council providing a sign bearing the garden’s name, membership information and a statement of support by council.

Planning and starting your community garden by Russ Grayson + Fiona Campbell 2002