THE ORCHARD
In the Orchard there are many varieties of both eating and cooking Apples and as yet we have not identified all of the older trees. Some of the smaller Apple and Pear trees are in fact quite old. These have been grown on a dwarf root stock to restrict their size . When counting the rings of one particularly small but very diseased tree that stood no higher than 4 feet, we were surprised to count to over 50.
The original planting date of the Orchard is hard to establish, as the trees were generally grubbed out after 30 years. It was believed that any older than this and the trees lost their vigour. The orchards soil is extremely rich, it seems likely that this area was used for further vegetable production in the past.
A number of trees had been lost through disease and these have been replaced, where possible, with the older Somerset varieties.These new trees planted as feathered maidens will be pruned to match the mature trees bush shape.
Pruning had been neglected for a number of years and subsequently the trees were in need of thinning and pruning. The trees seemed healthy with small amounts of diseased wood, but many had become too tall for fruit picking and these, over the last three years, have been pruned back fairly hard to regain their original shape.
Fencing surrounding the Orchard and outside grounds has again been made rabbit proof, as rabbits are fond of chewing the trunks, damaging the bark which can lead to disease.