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
Tag: Community Orchard
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
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
Community Orchard & Nature Reserve Update
Over the last few months a lot has been going on at the new Community Orchard and Nature Reserve. Currently we are waiting confirmation from Wiltshire Council that they will grant full public access in advance of the land transfer to Pitton and Farley Parish Council. Thanks to the support of the Coronation Living Heritage… Continue reading Community Orchard & Nature Reserve Update
Orchard Trees in The Close
A wonderful tree planting event took place on 12th March. Part of the grant funding from the Coronation Living Heritage Orchard fund, which celebrates the coronation of King Charles III, enabled us to purchase five trees to create a small orchard in The Close. The saying is that you plant trees for future generations, so… Continue reading Orchard Trees in The Close
Hedge Planting
At the start of March we took delivery of 420 hedge trees donated by the Woodland Trust as part of their trees for communities scheme. A number of trustees and volunteers gathered on 8th March, a chilly Saturday morning, to plant the hedging trees which covered approximately 100 metres around the edge of the new… Continue reading Hedge Planting
Woodland Trust Community Tree Packs
We are delighted to announce that we have been successful in an application to the Woodland Trust’s community tree pack scheme. Our application was for 420 whips for year round colour, this will provide approximately 85 to 100 metres of double row hedging on the acre of land soon to be transferred to Pitton and… Continue reading Woodland Trust Community Tree Packs