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Community Orchards and Fruit Gardens •••••••••••••••••••••••• U Provide an Important Habitat for Wildlife

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Community Orchards and Fruit Gardens •••••••••••••••••••••••• U Provide an Important Habitat for Wildlife Topic sheet Starting up community orchards and fruit gardens •••••••••••••••••••••••• u Provide an important habitat for wildlife. u The orchard can be a focus for ommunity orchards can be community events throughout the year. beautiful places to grow Cfruit, improve our diet u Opportunities for volunteers to learn new and provide resources to share skills (pruning, jam making). with the whole community. Did A community orchard can integrate with you know that almost 70% of other parts of your project. You could: our apples are imported? That u Create barriers of espaliers planted E-W you can grow more than 2000 to get the sun or cordons planted N-S. varieties of apples? That Cox‘s are sprayed an average of 18 u Plant free standing trees, in the style of times a year? a traditional orchard, protected by strong netting to graze sheep underneath. •••••••••••••••••••••••• u Allow pigs like Gloucester Old Spot access in the autumn to eat up windfall What is a community apples. orchard? u Allow chickens to scratch and pick up pests. Five trees can constitute an orchard but you don’t need this many and you don’t u Use your orchard to provide a site for just need to grow apples or pears. Plums, beehives. damsons, cherries (preferably trained as fans) quince, mulberry, medlar and nut trees Do we need any special skills to start a can all be grown. community orchard? Although pruning can be done by following Why start a community orchard as part of instructions obtained online or from books, a community garden or farm? it is best if your members can attend u Grow unusual varieties, including heritage training for both summer and winter pruning varieties, not obtainable in shops. of apples and pears. Maybe one of your existing staff members, board or volunteers u Enjoy organically grown fruit and make would like to take responsibility for the delicious preserves. orchard project? Planning a community • Redcurrants, loganberries and blackberries can all be trained along wires orchard or fences on shady edges of your plot to Orchards can be set up on or near school extend the fruit available. grounds, in hospitals, on council land, on Soil town greens, derelict sites, alongside paths and on the edge of forests, as well as on To grow fruit successfully you need to make allotments and on open ground. sure that they have reasonable growing conditions and space. • You will need to get the land owner’s consent and have some form of Tenancy • Avoid very chalky or sandy soils and add agreement (see Common Ground’s plenty of compost. Community Orchard Handbook) • Acid, peaty soils may need calcium and • The council should provide information other nutrients adding, but are great for about contaminated land blueberry bushes. • Do not plant near under/overground • Avoid waterlogged soils. Plums, services (gas/electricity etc) mulberries and quince cope best. • Agree planting position with landowner, • Avoid planting apple trees where fruit to make sure new trees don’t interfere trees have been grown in the past. with other land use or maintenance, for • Walnuts should not be planted near apple example, a grass cutting regime. trees. What and where to plant Rootstocks and spacing • Trees need sunlight to ripen fruit and • Fruit trees are grafted on to rootstocks, preferably a south facing site, although both because fruit will not grow true from plums will cope better with shade and seed and because different rootstocks morello cherries are suitable even for will control the growth of the tree itself. north facing walls and fences. • Rootstocks are given different numbers, • If you have frost pockets or cold all starting with an ‘M’. conditions, look for varieties that are hardy and which flower late. You will • Most nurseries will only supply trees on need to create wind barriers on exposed one or two different rootstocks. sites. • Generally dwarfing rootstocks will • Choose varieties which will give you fruit produce little growth, need good soil and throughout the season and ones that are feeding, but produce fruit earlier on in the compatible for pollination. tree’s life (within 2-3 years of planting). They also need permanent staking as the • Fruit trees can also be inter-planted with roots are not large enough to anchor. blackcurrants and redcurrants which can cope with some shade. These will need • If trees are allowed to branch out freely, netting from birds. the roots will extend the same amount so Growing apples on different rootstocks Bush on M27 - 1/2 Standard on extreme dwarf, Bush on M26 - MM106 - semi-dwarf, upto 2m dwarf, upto Standard on M25 - 3m upto 4m very vigorous, 4m plus Training options Bush or standard Cordons Espalier Fan this gives an indication of the minimum Maintaining a Community spacing required. Orchard • Space cordons (M26 or MM106) 1m apart, espaliers 4.5m apart. Pruning is important in shaping the tree, giving an open goblet shape to bush and Creating a community standard trees with 3-5 branches coming off the top of the main trunk. It also means orchard that air can circulate, reducing fungal disease Draw out a plan on graph paper. Always do and allowing sun to reach the fruit. Pruning a map with the names and rootstocks of and tying branches towards the horizontal the varieties you plant. It is difficult to keep rather than allowing them to grow upwards, permanent labels attached, metal markers encourages fruit buds to form. See RHS last best. Ordering fruit trees can be done website for further information. from September but trees will not be lifted until the leaves come off in November. What to do with the Planting of bare root trees can take place harvest from November to the end of February. Your members will be delighted to take Trees in pots can be planted at other times home the first apples in August and some of but will need to be kept well watered. They the later apples will store through until the are more expensive and sometimes more following year. Surplus fruit can be sold at difficult to establish. The Royal Horticultural markets, fairs, apple days, roadside stalls, Society (RHS) has produced guidelines hawked round neighbours or offered to on planting trees. See www.rhs.org.uk/ schools. From late September fruit can be Gardening/Help-advice/Videos/Planting-trees stored up for pressing as juice. for video clip. Windfalls can be collected and, after Maidens (one year old trees) often form removing bruised and spoilt parts, cooked better root systems. They can be shaped and frozen or turned into jams, chutney or into bushes, standards, espaliers, fans or pickles. Juice should be made with sound cordons. The last 3 are known as trained fruit, picked from the tree and washed. forms and need to be supported by wires Bottling fruit is another alternative to the and canes. They can be free standing freezer. You can also try fruit leather or or grown against walls or fences. If free chews made with honey, apple paste standing, strong metal or concrete posts are sweets and dried apple rings. needed, particularly for cordons. You may have other produce such as Once planted, the ground around the trunk mistletoe, wild flower plants, coppiced hazel should be kept clear of weeds and grass and fruit wood to sell. for a 1m diameter. This can be achieved by mulching with cardboard or woven ground cover. Dwarfing varieties should be kept permanently clear of competition. Trees should not be allowed to bear fruit in the first year after planting. Involving the local Apple day community Apple day is traditionally 21 October. Even if you haven’t got large crops, it’s a good Tree planting events way of drawing in people to the orchard. Apple varieties for tasting and local juice An opportunity to get local people involved can be bought in, or you can borrow a juicer as the results are immediate and people may and make your own juice. Also a chance to form a lasting interest. Perhaps ask people appeal to local apple tree owners for surplus to buy or sponsor a tree, or ask businesses. crops. Apple cakes and other produce can be Environmental groups sometimes organise sold. bulk purchases of fruit trees. The Tree Council and other bodies can provide grants. Cooking sessions National Tree Planting week and Tree Make cakes, chutneys, jams and juice to dressing day are in early December. share with volunteers. Don’t forget to check The Wassail with your local Environmental Health officer if you want to sell produce. Wassail is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning ‘be in good health’. Traditionally an orchard School visits - Primary schools should Wassail takes place on 17 January and is a have someone in charge of environmental celebration of the orchard to ensure fertility education. Risk assessments need to in the year to come. Mainly celebrated be done and it is a good idea to create a originally in the south west of England it is worksheet for children to complete. Talking an opportunity to attract in members of the about pollination, fruit growing, compost and public to drink mulled cider, apple juice and wildlife are always popular and it’s good to cakes. Wassail songs are sung, local to the get the children to do some drawings. area, often morris dancers or mummers perform. Toast soaked in cider is put in the branches of trees for the robin, the guardian of the orchard. Noises are made to ward off evil spirits. A great opportunity to involve children. Blossom time Most blossom occurs between mid April and the end of May, with plums first and apples last.
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