Renovation and restoration of the Orchard means we need to ensure the heritage fruit trees are not lost to posterity and in February 2023, a new Orchard nursery was established to safeguard the genetic lines of the apple trees.
Most of the fruit trees are well in excess of 100 years old and as such are starting to come to the end of their natural life. With the need to preserve such varieties as “Lane’s Prince Albert”, the decision was made to graft* some of the ‘more vulnerable’ apple trees. Grafting essentially clones the tree. It enables the forming of a new tree with the same genetic makeup as the original tree. This way we can preserve the variety true to form. At present we do not know the names of all varieties of apples in the Orchard although DNA testing, results which will be available the end of the year, should give that information. We do know however, that two of the apple trees have been lost in the last year due to storms.
In February, members of the group took scion cuttings from five of the apple trees and attended the Mid Shires Orchard Group ‘Scion Swap’ at Buckingham Nurseries. Here they were advised on what root stock would be suitable for the Orchard trees and chose M111, a vigorous and disease resistant rootstock which should produce heavy crops in 3 to 4 years.
Read more...
