Tuesday 21^st February 2017

Our very own orchard!

 

Today saw the arrival of several fruit trees!

We were lucky enough to be able to apply for free apple, pear, plum and cherry trees for our school grounds. Over the years, many orchards have been lost to developments so Suffolk Wildlife Trust have made many ‘old English’ varieties available to grow in school grounds.

Firstly we needed to work out which trees were which! The cherry trees had very different bark to the apple and pear trees so were easy to spot. We noticed different buds on the plum tree. The branches were thinner too. The apple and pear trees were harder to tell apart, but using magnifiers we could tell that the buds were different!

Finally we needed to find a sunny but sheltered spot to grow our fruit trees. We settled for a space near to the story telling chair.

Before we could plant our trees we needed to take a good look around our plot. Last year we discovered that tree roots can grow almost as long as the tree they are attached to is tall! We also learned through experimenting in science that plants grown closely together grow poorly as there is too much competition for nutrients, light and water. So we went to work measuring and researching the height of the surrounding trees to discover the best place to put each of our own plants.

What do you think? One day it will be a superb, quiet place to grow. Did you know that Sir Isaac Newton made one of his greatest discoveries under an apple tree?!