Children help as tree plans start to bear fruit.
Three new community orchards have been planted across Milton Keynes, expanding the city’s rich network of green spaces and boosting local biodiversity.
Two of the new orchards, created by the city’s Parks Trust, are in Loughton Valley Park and the third is in Shenley Wood. Each features a diverse mix of fruit trees to be enjoyed by the community for years to come.
Previously these three sites were areas of short grass with very little variation in habitat, but now they have been transformed into diverse orchards.
The first Loughton Valley orchard hosts a collection of 22 fruit trees, including apples, pears, cherries, plums, walnut, quince, mulberry, damson and medlar.
At the second orchard at Loughton, near to Bancroft, The Parks Trust has planted 12 new trees, including apples, pears, plum varieties, a bullace and a walnut tree.
The Shenley Wood orchard features a structured planting of 10 Conference pear, 10 Braeburn apple and 10 Victoria plum trees, alongside a crab apple pollinator. The crab apple is used as it has a large blooming period and produces a lot of pollen but doesn’t require harvesting.
The tree planting was supported by pupils from Oxley Park Academy, who joined The Parks Trust team to get the orchard established at Shenley Wood. All three of the orchards are expected to produce fruit within the next 3 to 5 years.
“Milton Keynes is fortunate to have a growing number of community orchards, which play an important role in supporting wildlife, offering peaceful green spaces and providing healthy snacks for local residents,” said a Parks Trust spokesperson.
“Residents are welcome to pick fruit from orchards managed by The Parks Trust for personal, non‑profit use. Visitors are encouraged to take only what they need so that wildlife and other community members can enjoy the harvest too.
More details: theparkstrust.com/communityorchards
