Technically we haven't got round to finalising the wording of the rule about planting new trees and shrubs and voting it into the site rules and regs, but as a trustee and board member I really shouldn't. We're set up as a charitable organisation that runs a community garden, so we do get to make our own rules to some extent although the land is still leased and not owned by us. I'm also at the top of the site, on better drained (but still not well drained) but much thinner ground in places. There's big lumps of rock sticking out from the earth just metres away in the fields to both sides. The willows further down the hill would be unsafe closer to a coop or any structure because despite being well established in deeper soil, they still suffer from such extreme windrock that they can be leaning a few metres further in one direction or the other, depending on where the wind last came from. Even if the site rules allowed, it's not like I could start planting rows of shelter for future trees on other folk's plots next to mine or the adjacent fields that aren't part of our site. There's also no chance I could get away with pretending something like oak or beech had magically self-seeded itself there from miles away
The wind isn't even a problem anyway. It's something we're used to living with and working around.
Being allowed to keep chickens has historically been pretty standard on UK allotments, although it's less widespread now.
