A communal garden (often used in the plural as communal gardens) is a shared garden for use by a number of residents. For example, the centre of many city squares and crescents (e.g., in London) are maintained as communal gardens. Despite the name, such gardens are normally privately by jointly owned, with sharing of maintenance costs. Access may be restricted by locked gates, with keys available for residents, or only unlocked during daytime.

Community gardens are small plots of land allocated to groups of people by some organization that holds title or lease to the land, sometimes for rent, sometimes simply as a grant of land.

Community gardens run from 5'x5' plots to as much as 25' square plots. Usual sizes are in the 10 x 10 to 15 x 15' range. Community gardens are often run by a self-governing set of bylaws, some elect boards in a democratic fashion while others can be run by appointed officials. Most are run by a Non-profit organizations, such as a community gardening association, a church, or other land-owner. Others are run by a city's recreation or parks department, a school or University. There are many different organizational models in use for community gardens.

Community gardens in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, community gardening is generally distinct from allotment gardening, though the distinction is sometimes blurred. Allotments are generally plots of land rented to individuals for their cultivation by local authorities or other public bodies—the upkeep of the land is usually the responsibility of the individual plot owners. Allotments tend (but not invariably) to be situated around the outskirts of built-up areas. Use of allotment areas as open space or play areas is generally discouraged.

The community garden movement is of more recent provenance than allotment gardening—many such gardens were built on bombed and derelict inner-city sites in the aftermath of The Blitz. A community garden in the UK tends to be situated in a built-up area and is typically run by an independent non-profit organisation (though this may be wholly or partly funded by public money). It is also likely to perform a dual function as an open space or play area (in which role it may also be known as a 'city park') and—while it may offer plots to individual cultivators—the organisation that administers the garden will normally have a great deal of the responsibility for its planting, landscaping and upkeep. An example inner-city garden of this sort is Islington's Culpeper Community Garden, or Camden's Phoenix Garden.


Community gardens in Australia

The Rushall Garden. A community garden in North Fitzroy, near Melbourne,Victoria.

Community Gardens in Seattle, Washington, USA

The city of Seattle, Washington Department of Neighborhoods supports a successful community gardening program, called the P-Patch program .

See also: American Community Gardening Association

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