Community orchards

Community orchards

If you are considering starting your own community orchard there are a number of hurdles to overcome, but armed with the right information and a bit of chutzpah they won’t be insurmountable. The links below contain a wealth of useful information. There are also some excellent books listed in our bibliography.

Once the plot is procured and agreements agreed you will have to get planting. If an orchard is already present, you should fill up any gaps with new trees. Select a range of rootstocks – some on MM106 for apple or other similar vigour stocks to help get the orchard cropping quickly, but be sure to include some trees on a full sized rootstock like M25 for apples, Brompton for plum and Kirchensaler for pears. This builds in longevity which is good for wildlife but they are slower to crop.

A top-tips list

Clear and concise guidelines published by Defra to help you find land and set up a community orchard.

The Community Land Advisory Service has produced a new, free set of documents to help community orchards find land and to reach good agreements about using it.

The Urban Orchard Project shares plenty of information on their useful website, from where to find a local orchard, to ‘how to’ videos for practical demonstrations of key orchard skills.

Helping Britain Blossom is supporting local people to create and restore 100 community orchards by 2017. The project works directly with community groups so will help up to 4,000 people learn new skills and deliver transformational benefits to their local communities.

A website for the Kent Orchards for Everyone project that has lots of useful information about community orchard management.

Finding community orchards near you

If you know of, or are involved with a community orchard not listed on this map, please click here to list it.
If you know of, or are involved with a community orchard that IS on this map and would like to update the details, please click here to let us know.

Finding community orchards near you

Limewood Fields Community Orchard

Dunvant Park Swansea

Milnthorpe Allotments

The Guarded Orchard

Newhouse Farm Treyford National Trust orchard

Clinton’s community orchard

Beighton community orchard

Abbots Langley community orchard

Winchcombe community allotment and orchard

Elder Stubbs Orchard

Odiham Cemetery Meadow community orchard

Radnor Road community orchard

Wilding Road community orchard

Admaston allotments community orchard

Wilburton community orchard

Gayden Meadows community orchard

West End Women and Girls Centre

Riverside community orchard

Stobsmill Inn community orchard

National Galleries of Scotland mobile community orchard

Constable Street community orchard

Cock Road Ridge community orchard

Shipley community orchard

St Nicholas Park community orchard

Hampson Park community orchard

Bandley Hill community orchard

Bloxwich community orchard

Gladewood community orchard

Winston Churchill Memorial Garden

Lower Walditch community orchard

Centry Court community orchard

Leigh community orchard

Guilden Morden community orchard

Horton Kirby & South Darenth community orchard

Allesley Park Walled Garden

Great Wymondley community orchard

Cults Burn Park and community orchard

Highfield Park Trust

Chiddingly Community Orchard

Shotley Gate community orchard

Ravensdale LNR community orchard

Cawston community orchard

Branchlines Old School Wood community woodland