Traditional orchards have long been a part of the British landscape, a seemingly harmonious marriage of forestry and agriculture, but today they appear more rare than ever.
TRADITIONAL orchards are characterised by widely spaced standard or half-standard fruit trees, of old and often scarce varieties, grown on vigorous rootstocks and planted at low densities – usually less than 150 trees per hectare – in permanent grassland or pasture.
They will contain at least some fruit trees that have been grown as ‘standards’, with their crowns held high enough to avoid being browsed when livestock graze beneath.
Apples are the most common fruit in traditional orchards, but sites often boast a mixture of apple, pear, plum, damson and walnut, although rarely with all types in one orchard. Cobnut (hazel) and cherry are local variants.
Traditional orchards are and always have been managed extensively, with little or no use of fertilisers or herbicides beneath the trees, or chemical insecticides and fungicides among the canopy. The grassland sward is either grazed by sheep or cattle or allowed to grow and cut for hay. The fruit is picked by hand.
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There are currently around 24,600 ha of traditional orchard in the UK, with the average size less than a hectare.
The traditional orchard has been part and parcel of the British landscape for centuries and has a complex history. DNA evidence supports the theory that of the almost 3,000 apple varieties found in British orchards, all are the un-hybridised descendants of the wild sweet apple Malus pumila from Central and Inner Asia, not the native European crab apple Malus sylvestris.
The Romans are credited with importing both the sweet apple and the pear Pyrus communis to these shores. Legend tells us they were competent in the skills of grafting, developing new varieties and probably cider making.
Traditional orchard management then seems to have declined, but the associated skills and wisdom may have survived into the late medieval period, within monasteries in their orchards or ‘pomaria’.
During the 17th century, fruit-growing expertise centred around aristocratic nurserymen like Ralph Austen and John Tradescant, and the author John Evelyn, who were influenced particularly by French fruit-growing heritage. Their names will be familiar to foresters and arborists.
These wealthy travelling plantsmen collected fruit varieties and established orchards in the country estates and aristocratic stately homes of England. That fashion is reflected to this day in the number of National Trust properties boasting historic orchards. Trees were often in formal patterns on dwarfing rootstocks, but larger traditional specimens and spacious plantings went in too.
By 1700, orchards were a dominant landscape feature in many counties. Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset already had a well-established tradition of orcharding to make cider and perry. These booming family farm orchards provided fruit to eat, cook or store as well as juice and alcohol.
Scrumpy became a part and a perk of the farm labourer’s wage and was healthier than drinking the often contaminated water supply – and likely more satisfying. Orchards became centres for songs, recipes, cider and festive gatherings. The ‘wassail’ is one such example that persists to this day in a few places to ward off evil spirits and encourage a good crop the next season.
By 1870, commercial hard fruit growing was in the ascendancy to feed the emerging urban markets using the growing rail network.
Since about 1950, fewer and fewer traditional orchards have been established and the national stock of standard fruit trees is now heavily skewed towards an older generation of trees of 50 years plus.
BIODIVERSITY
The ecological value of traditional orchards had long been underestimated and they have only recently come to be appreciated as biodiverse oases within a largely intensive agricultural landscape. They can be home to specialised communities such as lichens, fungi and wood-dwelling beetles, which need a continuity of habitat over time. A network of these sites is critical in sustaining populations, ideally across large tracts.
Fruit trees age much faster than most long-lived native trees in the countryside, so they quickly show the ‘veteran’ features associated with over-mature trees. The large amounts of standing dead wood in the form of ‘stag’s heads’, whole limbs and rotting heartwood are specific micro-habitats home to suites of very specialised organisms that have become rare elsewhere. These old fruit trees spread out in permanent grassland offer a range of niches not dissimilar to those in wood pastures.
The sward communities that flourish in the permanent grassland under the fruit trees can be rich and varied, with vegetation associated with semi-natural ‘unimproved’ meadows.
Traditional orchards are a stronghold for the hemi-parasite mistletoe (Viscum album) and that may be cut and sold in the run-up to Christmas. The annual sales at Tenbury Wells in late November have been held for three centuries and attract buyers from across the land.
The abundance and variety of insects and fruit in a traditional orchard supports diverse mammal and bird populations, harbouring specialist disappearing ones like the lesser spotted woodpecker, bullfinch and pied flycatcher.
Traditional orchards were awarded a BAP (Biodiversity Action Plan) ‘priority’ habitat status by Natural England (now English Nature) in August 2007, under the UK Biodiversity Partnership.
THE CONSERVATION MOVEMENT
Traditional orchards may look scruffy and unloved compare to the manicured contemporary ones, but they can be both productive and a haven for wildlife.
Over the past 50 years, the acreage of traditional orchards has been steadily dwindling.
By area, around 60 per cent has gone nationally since 1950; in some counties, such as Devon, losses of up to 90 per cent have been noted.
The single biggest cause is intense agriculture grubbing old orchards. For commercial growers, traditional orchards have long been economically unsustainable, since large trees require a lot of labour to prune and harvest from and are less productive per hectare than bush ones.
Small, traditional orchards are often in or near villages and towns too, and this has left them highly vulnerable to development.
Charities and NGOs have all played a major role in mobilising a traditional orchard conservation movement to address these threats. Common Ground was an early pioneer, establishing the Apple Day celebration in 1990, which has steadily accumulated interest and is now a nationwide event. Currently there are pro-orchard groups representing most of Britain, with the common aim of promoting traditional orchard heritage and knowledge. There are many community projects in the UK too that involve groups of local volunteers in the restoration, preservation or creation of orchards.
Despite this, traditional orchards are still severely under-protected by the law and conflicts between developers, farmers and conservationists regularly occur. Protection measures for threatened sites involve the establishment of tree protection orders (TPOs) through local council tree officers, combined with building a case around the ecological, genetic, historical and social importance of the site.
National fruit collections such as Brogmore in Kent are crucial to ensure rare varieties of fruit persist, but traditional orchards are a vital dispersed gene reserve too. Many of the varieties are old and have been lost elsewhere; they are living DNA banks and not all in one place should misfortune strike.
STEWARDSHIP
A scattering of traditional orchards of ‘standard’ trees survives and some are relatively young – and a few are actually juveniles, especially those planted for cider production.
But often many of the trees are ageing and past their prime, so need a bit of TLC from tree experts, be it management for cropping or for conservation or both.
Sensitive formative, maintenance and restorative pruning may be essential – much as they are for other old types of ancient or veteran trees. Rampant mistletoe may require cutting back. But a lot will depend on what the management objectives are for each individual owner and orchard.
If conservation is a top priority, how to care for the ground vegetation is vital too – to graze or not and with what livestock, mow for hay or whatever.
Traditional orchards are eligible for funding under the Countryside Stewardship scheme (BE4 and BE5) to offset costs for managing, restoring or creating traditional orchards. Grants from local councils, government-sponsored programmes and other schemes may be available as well, notably for community orchards.
LOOKING AHEAD
The surviving traditional orchards that have stood the test of time over many centuries should be conserved for the future. Their importance has now been recognised, although more legal protection would not come amiss. Besides their biodiversity worth, they are as much cultural and heritage sites as many more obvious ones in the UK. As such, their value to society is hard to put monetary figures on.
In the words of the song by Joni Mitchell: “Give me spots on my apples. But leave me the birds and the bees. Please.”
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