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Hedgerow and Orchard planting at Davies Meadows, Weobley Wildlife Meadows and the Sturts

Tree planting season has now drawn to a close at our Davies Meadows, Weobley Wildlife Meadows and Sturts North reserves, where earlier in March our volunteers have been busy planting, armed with their spades, mattocks and trees.
Three people in outdoor clothing stood in a field beside saplings protected by plastic guards

Trainee Becky hedge planting with volunteers Muriel and Dennis at Davies Meadow

At Davies Meadows the midweek volunteers, supported by our trainee reserves officer Becky, have finished planting over 100m of new hedgerow on the boundary between one of the meadows and neighbouring gardens where previously there were just a few non-native trees growing. The hedgerow mix of native thorns, maple, rose, hazel, birch and rowan will grow and mesh together to ensure that in future years, there will be a dense hedgerow with more nectar, pollen, fruit, seeds and habitats for all manner of species. The work is being part funded by a new countryside stewardship scheme and thanks to the Landfill Communities Fund grant.

Meanwhile at Weobley Wildlife Meadows, in addition to the local village volunteers planting a new hedgerow earlier in the year, they have also planted a traditional orchard of 34 fruit trees! The varieties were all supplied from local growers and include a mix of old varieties of cider apples, eating apples, perry pears, plums and damsons.

A man bangs in a wooden post in a field watched by woman in the left of the image and a man on the right.

Installing tree guards at Weobley Wildlife Meadows.

The mid-week Wednesday and Thursday volunteers have supported this work by helping with building the stock-proof guards that will ensure the field can be grazed whilst the fruit trees are protected from browsing over the coming years.

Two people kneeling by wooden posts in a field with tools

Volunteers installing netting around tree guards at Weobley Wildlife Meadows

Spring wildlife has started to come to our new Weobley nature reserve, with brimstone, small tortoiseshell and comma butterflies spotted emerging into the warm sunshine whilst we were working, the sound of chiffchaff in the trees, the distinct call of lapwings heard across the fields to the north of our site.

View across a field with people beside wooden tree guards

Orchard planting in progress, Weobley Wildlife Meadows, March 2022

Similarly, work as begun at Sturts North to restock the traditional orchard there, where over many years there have been a few trees lost for various reasons. A total of 15 cider apple trees and their stock-proof guards will be put into the orchard over the next two years as part of a higher tier countryside stewardship scheme, with this work being done by the Sturts volunteer group.

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