New Straw Bale Garden by Gardener’s Cottage

History of Beckenham Place Park’s straw bale garden

In summer 2017, Tilly (then a volunteer, now one of our gardeners in the grounds staff team) set up a straw bale garden on an old tennis court in what is now the lowest ‘room’ of the formal gardens. It was tended to by volunteers linked to the Mansion.

In 2018, volunteers, both from the existing Mansion volunteers and new park volunteers, tended to the bales and got a bountiful harvest of courgettes, runner beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, spring onions, beetroot and more. There were also quite a few slugs harvested from the bales!

In 2019, as the restoration project progressed, the tennis court was dug up and the remnants of the straw bales were used for mulch.

The straw bale garden was popular and a unique talking point, so we decided to re-create it in the community garden around Gardener’s Cottage. Bales were laid in June 2019, and we benefitted from some tasty tomatoes, beetroot and courgettes, despite starting to plant quite late in the season. Sadly preparation for 2020’s growing season was interrupted by the pause in volunteering during the first lockdown, so we didn’t harvest the bales’ full potential last year. The volunteering has now restarted, and the gardening volunteers have prepared the plot ready to receive new bales in late April.

How straw bale gardening works

It is expected that bales need to be replaced after 2 growing seasons, as the straw (which can be barley or oat straw) rots down and the bales collapse. They end up being too shallow to plant in. The old bales have been used as mulch around the community garden – great for adding nutrients to the soil, and also good for its moisture retention, which can reduce the need to water.

To grow plants in straw bales, you first condition the bales for 10 days using a high nitrogen fertiliser and a watering regime. This can be organic or inorganic, as you choose. The reason for ‘conditioning’ the bales is to start the rotting down process in their centres. As the straw rots, it turns into compost, which is what the plants like growing in! This would happen naturally too, but over a much longer time-frame, which isn’t much good for getting a garden going whilst the bales are still well-formed and haven’t started collapsing.

The benefits of straw bale gardening

Straw bale gardening is really good for wildlife as the bales warm up more than soil, making them an appealing habitat. We have found toads and frogs hiding in ours! They also provide an opportunity to plant flowers (good for pollinators) as well as vegetables, without losing vegetable growing space. This is because you can plant the flowers on the sides of the bales. We have found that calendula and nasturtiums grow particularly well like this, much to the delight of bees!

Anyone can do it

Straw bale gardening has other benefits too. One of the biggest selling points is that a straw bale garden can be as large or a small as you like and can be built anywhere, even hard surfaces.

You could create a one bale garden on a balcony, and grow a good amount of produce, for example. Why not consider giving it a go? Here are some more of the benefits to tempt you:

• Predictable growing conditions (no need to test soil pH when move locations) –> easy to replicate, predictable crops

• Raised height –> easier to tend to

• No digging needed – good for those with limited mobility who find digging hard

• No soil-borne diseases

• Fewer (or no) weeds

• Balanced pH

• Plenty of moisture

• Well-drained root zone with plenty of air spaces (allows quick root development)

• Can’t over water

• Warm growing conditions –> growing season can start up to 2 weeks earlier

• Flexible –> can change the layout year on year (or every 2 years)

• No crop rotation required

• Produces compost for the rest of the garden once bales collapse (and compost is weed-free!)

• Looks interesting –> a good talking point!