Community garden checklist

This checklist presents ideas to consider before starting a community garden.

  1. What type of community garden?
    1. Will the community garden be:
      • A shared garden where participants share the gardening and the harvest
      • An allotment garden where participants garden their own plot and share the maintenance of common areas
      • A garden with both allotments and shared gardening space.
    2. Allotment gardens:
      • How long can allotments be held while they are not being used?
      • What size will we make the allotments? This can be influenced by the size of the area available for gardening.
  2. What will be the purpose of our community garden?
    • Recreation/ community building:
      • A safe place where people can come together to grow food and get to know each other
      • A place where parents can bring their children.
      • Other
    • Food security and nutritional health:
      • Access to fresh, nutritious food
      • Reducing family expenditure on food
      • Supplementing the family food supply.
      • Other
    • Education:
      • Will the garden be open to use and/ or visitation by community colleges/ schools/ other educational bodies?
        • Yes
        • No
      • Will the gardeners offer workshops (eg. compost making, gardening etc) to the public?
        • Yes
        • No
      • If not, will the gardeners make the garden available for others to provide educational services?
        • Yes
        • No
      • Other educational activities
  3. What type of plants will we grow?
    When considering what types of plants to grow in your community garden, remember that fruit and nut trees need plenty of space and should be spaced about 3­5 metres apart.
    • Vegetables
    • Herbs
    • Fruit/ nut trees
    • Flowers
    • Berry fruit shrubs
    • Water crops
    • Medicinal plants
    • Bush foods
    • Herbal tea plants
    • Native or indigenous plants (native plants are those originating in Australia; indigenous plants originate in the local region)
  4. What animals will we keep?
    • Chickens
    • Other poultry
    • Bees
    • No animals
    • Other animals
  5. What structures will we build in the community garden?
    • Sitting area to shelter from the sun and rain
    • Watering system
    • Lockable shed for storing tools, seeds etc
    • Public art
    • Nursery for plant propagation
    • Educational signs
    • Play area for children
    • Rainwater tanks to collect water from the shed/shelter roof to irrigate the garden
    • Fireplace for making coffee and tea – ­barbecue for preparing food
    • Other
  6. How will we cooperate with Local Government?
    Will the garden be a place where communities and local government can work together to demonstrate social and environmental policy compatible with the aims of community gardening, such as:
    • Waste reduction
    • Water conservation
    • Re­-greening
    • Energy efficiency
    • Biodiversity
    • Nutritional health
    • Agenda 21
    • Other
  7. How will we fund the garden?
    1. Initial funding
      • Apply for grants
      • Membership fee
      • Other types of self funding
    2. How will we fund ongoing costs?
  8. What will we look for in a preferred site for the garden?
    • Size of area needed
    • Access to public transport
    • Access to sunlight, water and wind protection etc.
    • Comments/suggestions?
  9. Description of the proposed management structured for the community garden?
    • Will the garden’s organisational structure be and incorporated association?
      • Yes
      • No
    • Will the garden obtain public liability insurance?
      • Yes
      • No
    • How will decisions be made?
    • What will be the proposed conflict resolution process?
    • How will new members be recruited?
  10. How will gardeners ensure that there are no problems with:
    • Odour
    • Vandalism
    • Excessive noise
    • Site aesthetics ­how the site looks
    • Rodents
    • Parking
    • Non­-gardener access
    • Other
  11. How will neighbours/local residents be informed of the intent to create a community garden?
    • Letterbox drop about public meeting o Individual letters
    • Public meeting (date/time/place)
    • Other documented methods used

Download a copy of the checklist: pdf format Establishing a community garden (89.67 KB)