Dartmouth Community Orchard is a local green space and traditional orchard, and is a valuable area for both wildlife and the public.
20/01/2025
A great winter update from our illustrious Secretary Lee Thorneywork:
In spite of the cold and wet start to the year, the work parties have continued to be busy in the orchard. The orchard was raked in order to remove some of the vegetation strimmed by Dartmouth Town Council, pruning some of the trees, and removing some of the leaves off the heliotrope. This can be quite an invasive wild flower and although some are welcome, it was becoming too prolific and stifling other native wildflower species. The work parties have also cleared overgrowth around the substation.
If you have visited the orchard recently you might have noticed that we have put up some nesting boxes. We have also installed a couple of hedgehog houses too, one kindly made by Peter Aylward. In the cold weather we like to offer some shelter to the wildlife. The wildlife ponds have been planted with native, supportive plants to encourage more diversity, but we would ask that no dogs are permitted into these areas. Flea treatment on dogs will kill the wildlife that we are trying to encourage.
At this time of the year our bees are very quiet, huddled in the hive for warmth. They have been provided with special food to help them through the winter months, and we hope to see activity later in the spring. It is also hoped that we may be able to establish a second hive – watch this space!
