1. The garden should be a safe place for the community, children, and other gardeners. Do not bring anything that will compromise the safety of the garden.
2. YOU ARE REQUIRED TO VOLUNTEER 2 HOURS PER PLOT. You may either attend workdays or work on your own time and report your hours by filling out a work time slip. Your work must contribute to the upkeep of the whole garden; therefore, work in your own plot does not count as volunteer hours. Gardeners who do not complete the required hours will be charged $10 per hour missed. It is your responsibility to sign yourself in at workdays.
3. Plant refuse piles are set up for weeds and diseased plants. Please use these designated areas. DO NOT PUT TRASH, such as stakes, string, tomato cages, rocks, bottles, plastic, glass, or brush, IN THESE PILES. Please do not add kitchen scraps to the plant refuse piles because they are likely to draw animals.
4. If you use the garden’s tools, please clean them and return them to the storage area when done. Always lock the shed when you are done with tools. Do not assume that other gardeners will lock it after you.
5. Teach your children to respect others’ plots and not to waste water. Water costs about $3000 or more per year.
6. If you have a surplus of vegetables or fruits, please donate it to a nearby food pantry such as the Allied Food Pantry at the Boys & Girls Club.
7. Gardeners in the tilled area must clear their gardens by a week before the last workday – or incur a $10 fine. (See calendar.) This does not count as volunteer hours. Remove fences, vines, tomatoes, tomatillos, corn stalks, any other large plants, stakes, strings, cardboard, non-organic mulch, etc. Produce that is still growing can stay until frost, such as kale or carrots. Put up a sign to say “Still Harvesting.” Gardeners in the no-till area are also encouraged to clean their plots for the winter at this time, but they may leave their fences up.
8. Using organic mulch such as grass clippings, straw, hay, leaves, and clean cardboard is encouraged. (See handout on Mulching.) It reduces the need for you to water – the garden’s largest expense – and weed your garden. Mulch also provides nutrietns for your plants and builds healthy soil. In most cases 1-4 inches of organic mulch is enough. Up to 2 inches of wood chips may be used and is best suited for pathways within your plot in the no-till area. Please don’t use woodchips in the tilled area. Black plastic is allowed but must be removed at the end of the season.
9. Weeds can quickly take over your garden, especially if there is no mulch. Regular, selective weeding is encouraged. (See handout on Selective Weeding.) If your plot is overgrown with weeds, you will receive a warning. After two weeks of no action, your plot may be mowed and reassigned. If you do not properly maintain your plot you will lose your right to that plot for the following year and be moved to the bottom of the waiting list. It is recommended that you visit your plot at least once per week.
10. If you decide not to use your plot, please contact the registrar so it may be reassigned to someone on the waiting list. If there is no evidence of activity at your plot by June 1st, it will be reassigned. There are no refunds on plot fees paid.
11. Keep plot boundaries weeded and trash-free. If you are on a pathway, you are responsible to care for 1/2 of the pathway between you and your neighbor. Keep plot edges and fencing free of weeds that will go to seed. Don't put rocks and sticks in paths or the compost pile. Take them to west of the tool sheds. Put your recyclables and trash in the bins near the shed. Do not throw or leave weed piles on the grassy edges of the garden. Please compost them in your plot or deposit them in the designated plant refuse pile at the south edge of the long garden.
12. If you are unable to care for your plot for a time because of illness or vacation, ask a fellow gardener or the Garden Leadership Team for help with weeding and harvesting.
13. Stakes in the tilled area that mark your plot must be left in place all season unless your own fencing takes its place. It is mandatory to display the stake with your name and plot # visibly on the edge of your plot, where it was placed in the spring. Round metal labels mark the no-till plots.
14. The Garden Leadership Team must have access to all plots in order to perform maintenance such as retrieving community tools, removing brush or trees, or remedying other nuisances. If you lock your plot, you must provide a spare key or the combination to the Garden when registering, or the Garden Committee may cut your lock or fence if they need to gain access.
15. Carpet mulch is not allowed. Remove any non-organic mulch by closing day. No wood chips as mulch in the plowed garden. They do not biodegrade quickly. Black plastic is allowed but must be removed at the end of the season. Biodegradable mulch such as compost, clean cardboard, leaves, straw, and hay are encouraged.
16. Bright colored plastic construction fencing is not allowed. Solid fences are not allowed, such as those made of plywood, planks, or chipboard. The Garden Committee may require immediate removal if any fence is deteriorating to the point of falling into the path, onto the edge of the garden, or into the renter’s plot, or if the fence has a ramshackle appearance.
17. Don’t shade your neighbors’s plot. Plant tall plants (corn or sunflowers) only at the center or lawn edge of your plot. Also, some garden plants such as mint, catnip, and Jerusalem artichokes can spread quickly and become a nuisance for other gardeners. Please take this into consideration when choosing your plants and seeds. For further information and questions, check with the Garden Leadership team.
18. Do not allow vines or visitors to wander into neighboring plots.
19. Do not pick from your neighbor’s garden even if you think they have neglected their plot. Report these situations to the Garden Leadership Team.
20. The garden is not available for commercial use. Don’t sell your produce.
21. Never use any herbicides (weedkillers) or pesticides. These are prohibited at community gardens in city parks. Contact Extension-Dane County at 224-3700 for safe pest-control advice.
22. Permanent structures are banned. Temporary structures are discouraged but allowed if they are approved in advance and in writing by the management committee and meet these specifications:
i) Structures must not be pole-barn type structures and must be able to be easily taken down or removed. Small cold frames may stay up year around in a no-till plot.
ii) If taller than 1 foot, structures must be located a distance greater than or equal to its height from the edge of the plot, excluding plot edges that are also the edges of the garden. So, if your structure is 3 feet tall, it must be 3 or more feet away from a neighboring plot, but could be placed against the edge of the garden, given that it will not shade neighboring plots.
iii) Structures may have a maximum 12 square foot footprint and 5 foot maximum height.
iv) Structures must be aesthetically pleasing and in good repair. (The Garden Committee will be the judge of this specification.)
v) Structures must comply with allowed materials:
(1) Preferred materials: wood, rigid plastic if a commercially available storage container.
(2) Forbidden materials: Plastic roll sheeting (clear, black, or any other color of plastic) or commercially available tarps. Tarps and plastic tend to blow or billow, and plastic eventually tears, tatters, and shatters due to weather and wind. See the following point for alternative suggestions for greenhouse-like structures.
(3) Temporary greenhouse-type structures that can be easily dismantled at the end of the growing season may be constructed over a raised planting box but the covering must be removed at the end of every growing season. For a covering, see <https://www.btlliners.com/armorclear> which has a lattice of fibers .
vi) The Garden Committee must have the key or combination, if these structures are locked.
vii) New structures must be approved by the committee in writing prior to construction. Any structure that is not approved in advance may be required to be removed one month after written notification if it is determined not to meet these requirements. If non-compliant one month from written notification, materials will be placed in the trash.
viii) Structures that were brought into compliance or given a variance by the garden committee by the 2023 season but then are subsequently changed without permission may be taken down by City authorities. The structures may not be enlarged and must remain well maintained. The key or combination must be given to the Garden Committee. If needed, the plot renter will allow the storage of community garden equipment during the off-season.
23. The garden’s Leadership Team has the duty of enforcing rules and making decisions for the garden. The Team has the authority to resolve conflicts, including refusing a plot to a gardener or dismissing a current gardener.
24. Please check the bulletin board for a map showing where your plot is, as well as information concerning the garden – problems, classes, information, notices.
25. Each person must apply each year for a plot. The number of plots allowed per gardener may be restricted depending on demand. Returning gardeners who have maintained their gardens, completed their volunteer hours, and paid all fines and registration fees will be given first preference and will be assigned up to two of their previous plots. Gardeners who have not paid their fines and fees on or before the registration day will forfeit their plot and be moved to the bottom of the waiting list.
26. The maximum number of plots normally assigned to previous year’s gardeners is 2 plots per gardener (if they had multiple plots). Additional plots, usually in the tilled area, can be obtained if all plot requests made by the registration deadline have been accommodated. Gardeners who have had three or more plots before the current season will keep their plots for following seasons only if there is no increase in demand for plots. If registration exceeds the number of open plots available, the Garden Leadership Team will ask gardeners with 3+ plots to voluntarily give up a plot. If no gardeners are willing to voluntarily turn over a plot, the Garden Leadership Team reserves the right to select plots that will then be made available.