This week the landscape team travelled to Woodcroft Community Orchard in Brislington for a practical CPD and volunteering session. Senior landscape architect, Lucy Foley, is involved with the community group and saw it as an opportunity to expand the team’s knowledge around orchard planting and maintenance. The team started by helping weed and mulch the trees, then met with one of the orchard founders, Andy Brackinsell, who shared some of his helpful experiences in relation to orchard creation, maintenance and stake-holder involvement. Andy also covered important design considerations, including site aspect, tree spacing and different varieties of fruit trees including complimentary pollination groups.
At The Landmark Practice (TLP), we are increasingly designing and specifying formal and informal orchards as part of developments, with orchards becoming increasingly important for BNG. It has been a valuable experience to get hands on and involved with this project. Andy also discussed the potential realities of community-led orchard projects and suggested lower-maintenance alternatives such as wildlife gardens and edible hedgerows which may be appropriate for certain situations. With our new-found knowledge we look forward to incorporating more rewarding orchard spaces in future projects.
