‘the allotment is creating a ripple of good for the community’

Reader Steve Watkin from County Durham explains why new skills and sustainability make growing such a joy

Four years ago, Joy Lewty, 62, from Garforth, Leeds, was handed a pack of seeds. That simple gesture set in motion a chain of events that would change her life.

The theme for this year’s National Allotments Week, from 11 to 17 August, is Wellbeing. Five women reveal how their lives have changed for the better by spending time on their plot

On a busy street in a small town in south Devon, there’s a secret door. I tentatively open it, head into what feels like a tunnel and then up some steps... into a pocket of magic. It’s an urban garden

Creaky knees, rickety wrists, dodg y eyesight or an achy back? Worry not. So long as you have green fingers, you can still achieve miracles in the garden. Our experts show you how

Andrew Oldham is busy bringing together vegetables and flowers to make the most of a sloping site