Category: Community Orchard

Summer Pruning

In March Richard Cripps, a Wiltshire based experienced professional horticulturalist visited our orchards and gave advice on the winter pruning of our pip fruit trees; apples, pears and quince. Last week Richard returned to advise us on how to prune our stone fruit trees; cherries and plums. As with his previous visit Richard talked about… Continue reading Summer Pruning

Community Orchard Grassland Survey – July 2026

In the autumn of 2025 with the help of a team of volunteers the Community Orchard and Nature Reserve was reseeded with native wildflower seed harvested from the RSPB reserve at Winterbourne Down. We have waited patiently to see what would emerge on the site and are very grateful to three volunteers, Catherine Sankey, Sarah… Continue reading Community Orchard Grassland Survey – July 2026

Emerging Results of Reseeding

Last October we reseeded the Community Orchard & Nature Reserve with a wildflower mix harvested from the RSPB reserve at Winterbourne Down. After the ground was prepared by tractor a team of volunteers formed a row and moved across the area casting the seed by hand. We had no idea what might emerge and it… Continue reading Emerging Results of Reseeding

Information Boards

Sadly our information boards did not fare well over the winter with the Community Orchard board showing signs of weathering. Whilst the one in The Close fell apart. However, one of our volunteers, Kevin Emery, stepped forward to offer help. Kevin diligently refurbished both boards and they are now back in place as good as… Continue reading Information Boards

Winter Pruning

An important element of managing the fruit trees in The Close and Community Orchard is pruning to keep the trees healthy, encourage strong growth and improve the fruit harvest. Although our trees are newly planted they still need some pruning and we were pleased to secure funding from the Coronation Living Heritage Orchard fund to… Continue reading Winter Pruning

Hedging the Community Orchard

Thanks to support from the Woodland Trust we have been able to complete creating a hedge around the Community Orchard & Nature Reserve. On 15th November some trustees and volunteers gathered on the site to plant 315 hedgerow saplings. We have now planted 735 hedgerow saplings with a mix of hawthorn, blackthorn, rowan, wild cherry,… Continue reading Hedging the Community Orchard

Reseeding Working Party

Over recent weeks there has been a lot of work going on in the Community Orchard & Nature Reserve to create a wildflower rich biodiverse area. During this year the grass has been lush pasture grass which has very few wildflowers, the aim is over time to replace this with a more biodiverse habitat. The… Continue reading Reseeding Working Party

Woodland Trust Community Tree Packs

We are delighted to announce that we have again been successful in an application to the Woodland Trust’s community tree pack scheme. Our application was for 315 whips which will complete the hedging around the Community Orchard and Nature Reserve. The packs are due to arrive in November and will includes hazel, blackthorn, crab apple,… Continue reading Woodland Trust Community Tree Packs