Orchards

How does MAN decide which apple varieties to add to its heritage-variety orchard collections?

MAN’s priorities for adding to the collections and conservation of varieties is:

• local heritage varieties
• regional varieties not in Brogdale National Fruit Collection
• research of unidentified varieties
• those found (historically) successful in our area, and
• temporarily, those uncommon varieties out-of-area pending distribution to regional orchard groups.

How has our collection arisen?  From two principle sources: as a result of taking sample fruit during visits to old orchards and receiving apples brought by the public to Autumn shows for identification.  A preliminary identification may indicate if the variety is a local traditional one, or it is ambiguous or uncertain though looks interesting.  During the first ten or so years of MAN we visited over a 150 old orchards.  We have been regularly present at about 6-8 Autumn shows for the last 20 years.

If it looks interesting we have asked the owners for permission to take scions in the winter for grafting onto a selected rootstock (based upon interest, certainty of identification and where space is available in our orchards).

A year or two later, the tree is planted in one of our orchards. Depending upon rootstock, it will be fruiting within 3 to 7 years. With “clean” young fruit, identification is usually easier than the old possibly diseased specimens we had to work with initially. Since the trees were planted we have taken photographic records of the fruit for showing how it changes from year to year according to variations in climate. This helps when comparing apples with written descriptions (e.g. Hogg), paintings (e.g. Saunders) and photographs (e.g. Bultitude), for instance whether there is more or less russet or colouring in a year.

Typically now, of the apples we receive, several each year prove exciting.  It keeps us eager.

Sometimes we makes finds of “lost” varieties and get very excited.

Despite all this effort we still have nearly a hundred yet to be identified. Some we have a measure of confidence in our identification, but there are many that we may never identify as they could be seedlings. DNA analysis has helped increase confidence in many identifications.

Conservation

Our aim is to conserve varieties that originated in or near to the Welsh Marches and those that have been traditionally associated with the region.

MAN has found over 50 varieties have been rediscovered that had been thought extinct. Over 200 culinary and dessert local apple varieties have now been identified, and about another 100 are currently being investigated, almost certainly resulting in more “finds”.

Our climate is markedly wetter and cooler than in the East of England, and some varieties prosper and others don’t. When we find a variety that thrives in our rich deep Devonian soils, we will consider conserving these too as a precaution against rapid climate change.

As definitive identification and conservation becomes more important to MAN, we are increasingly working with Brogdale, other private, local and regional charitable collections, and also specialist nurseries, for ensuring that a multiple number of trees, say at least five, are in at least two curated collections. This will ensure there is little risk that all will be lost before it is possible to re-propagate them. There is still some way to go for ensuring that this ambition is accomplished!

Many Members have planted their own orchards that contain some of these traditional and “re-found” varieties, thus enabling diversification of the geographic spread back to those areas from where the varieties originated and where they are best suited to local soils and climate.

All those that are described in our publication ‘Welsh Marches Pomona’ are being conserved in our orchards, and most listed in ‘Apples of the Welsh Marches’. Furthermore, we are conserving some varieties that are not in the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale. A full list of varieties is available (link to Collection Page).

MAN Orchards

MAN has a single orchard in Powys which contains all the unique varieties we have found as well as other interesting Marches apples from both sides of the border including well into Wales. MAN wholly owns this heritage-variety orchard and in part preserves aspects of the National Fruit Collection that Brogdale is not able to hold. We strive to maintain a copy of unique trees from our area as a genetic repository for future apple work and as a source of scion wood for members and the wider public to access. We have planted about over 1000 trees variously grown on M9, M26, MM106, M111 and M25 rootstocks.

Members may visit and do work in our orchard. To arrange access please contact secretary@marcherapple.net.

It is the Trustees wish that Members see this orchard asset as a benefit of membership and an opportunity by which to gain interesting and useful experiences.  Volunteer activity is strongly encouraged in a wide range of areas of orchard management including planting, pruning, grafting, health and harvesting. This may be more formal courses, or regular work parties, or ad-hoc arrangements among members as may be convenient.

MAN has worked with the Brecknock Wildlife Trust (now South and West Wales Wildlife Trust) in carrying out wildlife surveys in MAN and Member orchards with a view to improving awareness about their value. If you’d like to take part in recording ecological surveys please do contact us.

Often these Members are very willing to make their collections available to other Members for viewing and inspection, and for sharing experiences.

This work has been given added importance in that Traditional Orchards were recently added to Local Biodiversity Action Plans. The very existence of MAN contributes to maintaining such orchards.

As learning from developing and managing our collection may be of interest and use to other groups we give a summary of how things have evolved and the rationale for changes.

Visiting and working in our orchard is best arranged with prior permission by contacting secretary@marcherapple.net.

Whilst we only have a single orchard there are others we have worked previously before we had our own orchard – and some we still help at now, see below.

Paramor Heritage-Variety Orchard in the Usk Valley, Powys

Paramor is owned by MAN and is our principle collection on about 2.2 ha (5 acres). There are over 160 standard M25 trees mainly of local heritage varieties including those described in Welsh Marches Pomona and Apples of the Welsh Marches. Another 140 trees in the ‘Nursery’ area are of trees grown on semi-dwarfing MM106 bringing earlier fruiting for enabling identification (or confirmation of identification) of them. An active volunteer group works in the orchard – we are always looking for more so please contact secretary@marcherapple.net if you are interested.

A few years ago we removed nearly half the trees in the nursery area and some in the main area as they have been found to be ones commonly available and from out-of-area.  In place we planted some more trees in the nursery area that have been recently found or others from member orchards that we are still seeking to identify. Some recently-accredited local varieties were also planted.

The future plan for the orchard is to consolidate the main orchard with varieties that are not in the national collection and warrant preservation, as well as maintaining a rolling stock of trees we have found or been donated for identification grown on in the nursery area until they can be identified.

Grass cutting is changing with us moving to a more infrequent cutting regime and development of a year-round meadow to encourage pollinating insects. We prune the standard trees once a year (join the working party!) in mid-summer for slowing growth and reducing risk of disease. Trees in the nursery area pruned by exception as they are not expected to remain for more than 10 to 20 years.

Tredomen

Tredomen was our first orchard on 0.6 has of land that the landowner generously allowed us to use. When planting began in 1995, the main function of the orchard was to provide a site where interesting apples which we could not name might be cultivated and studied. To help with their identification we occasionally had scions from the NFC, e.g. Dr Harvey, Arthur Barnes, King of Tompkins County, Scotch Bridget and Yorkshire Greening. At the time there was confusion over the identity of certain varieties we encountered in local orchards, notably Scotch Bridget, King’s Acre Bountiful, Catshead and Dr Harvey. We were shown trees said to be “Costards” at Winforton and Eardisland which turned out, after study, to be Scotch Bridget. Several “Catsheads” eventually proved to be Lord Derby. That’s the reason we now have multiple copies of some varieties and also relatively ‘common’ ones among local traditional ones that we wish to preserve.

There are 180 trees growing on MM106 rootstock and another 16 on M26 rootstock.

It has traditionally been an incredibly useful orchard for MAN, enabling us to accumulate a collection, gain experience, build contacts, help volunteers. Yet it now has some drawbacks: nearly half of the trees are common from out-of-area, it is in a frost hollow, canker is prevalent, it is remote from more populated areas, and planting spaces are largely full.

We have ceased further development there, while ensuring that all interesting varieties are copied to Paramor, Ty Glyn, and elsewhere. Grass is no longer cut – instead sheep graze. All varieties of interest are now growing in Paramor, and we only rarely visit the orchard to collect scion wood from time to time.

Ty Glyn

With the success of growing trees on dwarfing rootstock, and support from F P Matthews, we accepted an opportunity to establish and develop a new orchard of cordon trees on M26 rootstock at Ty Glyn, near Hay-on-Wye, on a member’s land. The lease of this land has now ceased and work on this collection is to maintain in the immediate future with many of the varieties copied now elsewhere, development of a similar set up at Paramor is being planned. Volunteers still work on this site and access has been promised for the foreseeable future.

It was established in 2018 and now has about 500 trees, with another 50 planned for planting over the next few years. It has been particularly useful enabling the consolidation of MAN and member’s collections.

Orchard and tree maintenance is much less time consuming and costly than for those on standard or semi-standard rootstocks. Pruning is done mid and late-summer for encouraging spur development; varieties that are or maybe (partial) tip-bearers are noted and pruned for retaining some blossom buds; this is a subject of active work.