March was a very busy month for Pitton Nature Trust (PNT), with significant activities in The Close and the Community Orchard & Nature Reserve.
In the autumn a range of native bulbs were planted in The Close and it is rewarding to see that some of the snowdrops and crocuses have emerged. Our next step in managing The Close has been to plant five fruit trees; a crab apple, Malus Jelly King suitable for crab apple jelly; a Fiesta late eating apple, a Concorde pear another late eater and two cherries, Stella which is a mid-season eater and Sweetheart which is a late eater.
These trees were funded by the Coronation Living Heritage Orchard fund, to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III. The saying is “you plant trees for future generations”, so the first tree was planted by a group of children from the village pre-school, the next by Hedley White who is in his nineties and has lived in Pitton all his life, The next two trees were planted by Carole Smith who has undertaken numerous flora and fauna surveys for PNT and Sarah Ackrill the chair of the Parish Council and the fifth tree was planted by some of the PNT trustees.
Earlier in the month a new hedge was planted in the Community Orchard & Nature Reserve. This consisted of 420 hedging plants donated by the Woodland Trust made up of six varieties; Rowan, Hawthorn, Wild Cherry, Hazel, Dogwood and Silver Birch. When established this will create all year round colour with nuts and berries for birds and wildlife. Two small spinneys of Silver Birch were also planted.
A few weeks later fruit trees were planted to establish the new orchard on the land that is in the process of being transferred from Wiltshire Council to Pitton & Farley Parish Council. PNT will manage the land for the Parish Council. This time twelve trees were planted made up of apples, pears, cherries, crab apple, plum and quince.
The new Community Orchard & Nature Reserve sits alongside the Wiltshire Council’s newly created permissive bridleway between Pitton and Firsdown. We have been told this is expected to be open in late May, at which time the public can access the site to see the work that has been done. When the site is open we will install a bench so you can sit and enjoy this new community space.