AMERICANS traveling in Europe have for many years been impressed by the large areas around cities that are devoted to small garden plots.

To the casual observer these appear to be simply clusters of miniature truck gardens with scattered fruit trees. More discerning travelers are impressed by the obvious care lavished on these plots. Gardens are weed-free, crops are bountiful, fruit trees are carefully pruned, hedges are clipped, huts and toolsheds—if present—are usually neat and well-tended, and every square foot is carefully utilized. Many garden areas have a festive air, with flags flying.

Try as he will, the traveler will find little reference to these garden areas in guidebooks, on guided tours, or in tourist information bureaus. There are few readily available sources of information for the American on the small-garden movement in Europe.

The small gardens and small-garden areas referred to in this chapter are not the garden plots of today's suburban householder. Rather, the focus is on community efforts to develop gardening areas for city people whose living quarters provide little or no space for gardening.

Names given to these areas in Europe vary from the general (such as "garden colonies"), to the manner in which they are allocated ("allotment gardens"), or the facilities they include (such as "hut colonies," which refer to the toolsheds or small houses on garden plots in some countries). Often these collections of individual garden plots are referred to as "workers' gardens." Many simply are called "small gardens" or "small-garden areas."

For centuries people have needed to live in cities and towns in order to find jobs—yet have desired the greenery, the cleaner air, and the opportunity to garden that rarely are available except in rural or rural-urban fringe areas.

Living space has always been at a premium in cities and towns; there has been little green space—and even less space for gardens. During the Middle Ages, when cities were walled for protection, there was little open space of any type within the walls, and gardens flourished in front of city gates.

Similar crowded conditions occurred several hundred years later when the industrial revolution forced rapid city growth. Ground space was at a premium so that houses were squeezed together side by side, pushed behind into alleys and inner courtyards, or forced up—into five- and six-story buildings with several apartments on each floor.

Many rooms had no outside light. Ventilation was almost nonexistent. Added to this were other poor health conditions, including a general lack of sanitary facilities, inadequate heating, and meager and unwholesome food—all compounded by the terrible crowding as the workers and their families swarmed into the cities. Lack of air, lack of sunlight, and unsanitary, overcrowded conditions were a way of life for most working people.

One of the measures provided to relieve people living in such unhealthy conditions in England was a law in 1819 that provided for leasing land for small gardens to the poor and unemployed. Later, other countries in Europe promulgated laws regarding provision of small-garden areas for city people.

Gardens for working people, the poor, and the unemployed were provided as a health measure by city governments, philanthropists, and some factory owners. Gardens also became a way to help ensure social stability by providing a link to the countryside that the workers had left, as well as a means of improving the quality of life.

By the mid-1800's the small-garden movement had appeared in most European countries, either as an independent effort to meet the local conditions, or influenced by work in neighboring countries. The movement continued to grow into the early 20th century and began to be considered as a factor in planning urban areas.

Community gardens, called allotments, were provided in the garden cities developed according to the ideas of England's pioneering town planner, Ebenezer Howard. For Letchworth (commenced in 1903), the plan included allotment gardens and children's playgrounds behind groups of houses.

Allotments also were included in Welwyn Garden City (begun in 1919).

During the 1920's and 1930's, there was increasing interest in town planning, particularly in the use of open green spaces to add light, air, and form to cities. Small-garden areas were included in new residential districts of many large European cities.

Lewis Mumford, in The Culture of Cities (1938), wrote about the small gardens in the then newly developed Römerstadt area of Frankfurt. "One of the earliest applications, beginning 1926, of modern methods of planning and building communities: so far probably the best... The low-lying land beneath the parapet... shows the individual cultivation gardens with their trim, collectively built, tool sheds: part of the green belt that sets off this community on two sides... "

World War II caused a great increase in small gardens. In city parks, school and hospital grounds, vacant lots, idle land on the city's edge, and on unused space around factories, gardens were tended by the elderly, the very young, and people in between. In Europe, as in the United States, the wartime gardens had a three-fold purpose: to give the individual citizen a sense of participation in the war effort, to improve the economy of families and nations, and for the food itself.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated in 1944 that approximately 40 million gardeners were growing vegetables in victory gardens in the United States. Data are not available concerning the number of gardens or gardeners at that time in various European countries, but evidence shows that gardening efforts were great. New gardens were added and in the existing small gardens, vegetables were grown in space formerly used for flowers.

In this country after World War II there has been only sporadic interest in community gardens. Today, clusters of gardens are found on a few school-grounds, at some veterans' hospitals, and in a few remnants of victory gardens in city parks. Others appear in vacant lots in inner-city redevelopment areas, in city blocks on closed-off alleys, at homes for the aged, on farms in rural-urban fringe areas, and in a few of the planned communities now under construction.

In Europe the small-garden movement has continued to flourish. There was a temporary decline in availability of gardens in many countries as close-in sites were taken for urgently needed housing. A temporary lag in the demand for small gardens in some countries resulted from the effects of increased incomes and mobility. Despite these declines there has been a steady interest in small gardens.

The International Association of Small Garden Organizations, originally founded in 1926, was re-established after World War II in 1947. Principal members of the association include the following countries: Austria, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

In many European countries there is a continuing interest in small gardens within and on the edge of the older cities and towns. The type of garden varies from country to country, but the basic idea remains the same—gardens for health, esthetic pleasure, family enjoyment, and, of course, for the fresh vegetables and fruits.

In France the gardens are of three types: workers' gardens, similar to the small-garden areas in Germany; individual family gardens purchased or leased from a farmer or other landowner outside the city; and industrial gardens, provided by factories.

In England, the gardens are principally one type, "allotment" gardens. These are rented from the local government for a small fee. Some allotment garden areas are part of open-space areas within cities; some form part of greenbelts surrounding cities.

In the Netherlands, small-garden areas are found around most cities.

Many have a small cottage where families spend the weekend or even the entire summer. Other gardens are on land that in most countries is wasted—such as land along railroad lines. These usually are quite tiny, and haven't space for the smallest toolshed. Even so, they produce quantities of vegetables and some flowers, with not a foot of space wasted at any time during the growing season.

In Denmark and in Sweden, small gardens usually are on the edge of built-up areas. These generally have a cottage for weekend and summer use.

Some Danish "garden colonies" are laid out like small towns. Gas, water, and electricity are available for each garden. The entire colony may be set in parkland and surrounded by trees. A playing field, a children's playground, a swimming pool, a "village hall," and a "village shop" are not uncommon. The Federation of Colony Garden Associations in Denmark acquires land by purchase or long-term lease, plans the garden colony, and leases gardens to members.

Cities and their surrounding regions have experienced vast changes during the middle of the 20th century. The impact of technology has been great. For example, increased use of the automobile has resulted in residential areas being spread outward from the city, and in the scattering of industrial and commercial areas in both Europe and the United States.

But some of the problems of the industrial revolution are still with us. The inner cities still are crowded and lacking in open space. All too often city living and working conditions are deficient in clean air and sunlight. And these deplorable conditions affect everyone in the city—not just the poor, the unemployed, or the undereducated.

Pressures of an expanding population, the need for more efficient use of limited resources, and a growing concern for the quality of our environment have aroused much interest in the renewal or redevelopment of our cities and towns.

Old, dense, but habitable city areas are being rejuvenated by provision of open space and other amenities. Some of the worst parts of cities and towns are being completely redeveloped to provide good housing; schools, shops, and other community facilities; improved street patterns; and much-needed open space. A few of these redevelopment areas—"new towns in town"—contain all the facilities needed for urban living. And in rural-urban fringe areas, "new towns" and "planned communities" are being constructed, using advanced sociological and technological concepts to provide better living conditions.

Provision of small gardens in redeveloped and renewed areas, and in new communities, can make a number of useful contributions far outweighing their minimal cost in terms of land, money, and community effort.

Some of the planning concepts being proposed today actually were in use a hundred years ago. For example, during the latter half of the 19th century, several far-sighted factory owners in England built model villages to house their employees. Copley Model Village, built near Halifax in 1844-53, and Akroyden, commenced in 1861, were planned according to principles stated by their owner, Colonel Edward Akroyd. Cottages were grouped closely together and did not have individual kitchen gardens; instead, small allotment gardens were grouped on the edge of the villages.

Ebenezer Howard, the Englishman who has contributed so much to the development of today's new towns through his efforts to build the first garden cities (Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City), insisted that these cities provide a small front yard and private back garden for each house. In addition, as was mentioned previously both Letchworth and Welwyn included allotment gardens.

It also should be noted that this utopian yet practical thinker suggested in Garden Cities of Tomorrow (1902, reissued in 1945) the transformation of London as well as the building of new cities. Howard recommended that slums be cleared "and their sites occupied by parks, recreation grounds, and allotment gardens."

New towns built in Britain since World War II also include allotment gardens. Gardening, whether in a private space behind a house, or in one of the community's allotment gardens, appears to have helped people from densely built areas of London and other cities adjust to their new way of life.

In Newton Aycliffe, built in northeast England, the Gardens Guild was the first organization established. In addition to monthly meetings during the nongardening season for films, lectures, and discussions of many aspects of horticulture, the guild provides a gardeners' cooperative selling many gardening materials in a small shop at the entrance to allotment gardens.

Frederick J. Osborn and Arnold Whittick, in The New Towns—The Answer to Megalopolis (1963), mention the use of allotment gardens as a way in which residential areas in Hemel Hempstead were given variety. In one instance cited, the allotments were behind groups of row houses that faced a small, central open space. In another example, the groups of row houses faced outward, and the inner area had allotment gardens at one end and a children's play area at the other.

The usefulness of small-garden areas to provide space for needs not always foreseeable even in well-planned new towns also is illustrated in Hemel Hempstead. At the time Hemel Hempstead was being built—the early 1950's—so few people owned cars that few spaces were provided for them. During recent years the number of cars has greatly increased and space for them has had to be found. In Hemel Hempstead some land once set aside for allotment gardens, presently not in demand, is being used for garages.

Compared with other uses, the total area for small gardens need not be large. Location may vary according to topography, soil quality, density of development, site plans for residential areas, or provisions for transportation or various open-space uses.

Runcorn, now being developed southeast of Liverpool as a new town of 90,000 to 100,000 people, will provide additional employment opportunities, housing, and amenities for people from the Liverpool area. The master plan calls for a total of 2,060 acres of land for various open space uses. Allotment gardens will utilize 30 acres of this space.

Some of the new satellite communities in the Netherlands and in the Scandinavian countries also include small-garden areas, primarily for people living in apartment buildings.

But perhaps Germany is placing the greatest emphasis on providing small gardens for people who will be living in new communities. Increasing attention is being paid by planners to ensure that small-garden areas are available for people moving to the new satellites as well as those who live in older cities.

This planning effort is backed by the Association of German Small Gardeners. A legal foundation is provided by the small-garden law of 1919 with its subsequent revisions and amendments, together with laws and regulations of the individual German states.

From Bremen in the north to Munich in the south, cities are expanding through planned development of satellite communities that include all the facilities people need and many of the amenities they wish for. Open space for community gardens and other recreation uses is an integral part of the plans.

Small-garden areas exist in some of the new communities being built in the United States. Usually they result from efforts made by people who want to garden but lack space for it, rather than from plans by the developers.

In Columbia, Md., a new town being built between Baltimore, Md., and Washington, D.C., a group of people interested in gardening were able to obtain from the developing company permission to use land as yet not devoted to residential or other purposes. The gardens are shifted to other areas as schedules for development change. Small-garden areas were not included in the original development plan, nor have they as yet been granted a permanent area by the civic association which allocates space and facilities for recreation uses.

On the other hand, in Reston, Va., a new town also being built near Washington, D.C., the developer deeded to the homeowners association a parcel of land which is being used for small gardens. This is an excellent example of multiple use of land; the garden site is on the right-of-way of an underground natural gas line.

Gardening in Reston is proving to be popular. A waiting list contains names of a number of applicants for gardens, and a permanent site for a second small-garden area is now being sought.

Through practice, Europeans have found that small-garden areas should meet certain criteria to be successful.

The community garden should be near the residential area it serves, although this principle is being modified as a result of increased ownership of automobiles.

Natural features, as well as trees and shrubbery, can be used effectively as separators between the groups of small-garden plots and between the small-garden area and adjacent uses, such as for highways, industry, and residences.

Sufficient space must be provided for a minimum number of individual gardens. Some planners indicate the minimum number is 20, others would have no fewer than 50 plots in one area. The individual gardens should be large enough to provide space for an adequate selection of plants to be cultivated—including flowers, berry bushes, and even small fruit trees.

Desirable facilities include a clubhouse or other meeting place, parking space on the periphery of the area, space for sports and other active recreation, and provision for irrigation.

An important factor in a successful small-garden program is to ensure that the garden area will be relatively permanent. It is essential that the gardener have some assurance that his work toward soil improvement, his investment in perennial plants, and his feeling of attachment to this garden will have a chance to last for a relatively long time. He cannot be expected to pack his soil, plants, and compost pile off to another area should development plans change and bulldozers destroy the gardens in preparation for construction of new roads or buildings. Protection against an increase in rental fees also is needed.

The small garden has evolved from a device to provide sunlight, fresh air, and food for the underprivileged to a modern means of providing everyone in an urban area with a higher quality of living through the beneficial environmental effects of green, open space.

Among the uses of open space—and one for which community gardens are eminently suited—is that of giving form and structure to urban areas. One method links small-garden areas, sports fields, and other open-space uses into extended green strips that tie residential areas to neighborhood and community centers. Community gardens also are excellent buffers between disparate uses, such as residential areas and intensely used commercial areas, or between residential areas and highways.

Europeans are becoming as concerned about their environment as Americans, and small-garden areas are being suggested as effective barriers to smoke and dirt, noise, and odors. The presence of green plants in cities also is looked upon as a source of oxygen. Further, plants provide visual relief from the harsh outlines of the concrete and brick structures in today's cities.

As outlined in the objectives of one European association, the small garden provides the individual with improvement in physical health and well-being, a way to relieve the tensions of modern living, and, of course, a supply of nourishing fruits and vegetables.

For children, the small-garden area can serve as an introduction to the wonders of nature. For the elderly, small gardens provide a sense of doing something useful. For everyone, the community small garden offers one answer to the problem of using increasing amounts of free time in a pleasant, meaningful way.

As America moves increasingly toward an urban-oriented culture, the individual plot in a small-garden area can provide a tie to the open countryside that cannot be found on asphalt playgrounds, concrete parking lots, or even in the often overcrowded city parks.

Earl L. Butz

Copyrighted material; do not reprint without permission.

 

View all articles by Earl L. Butz