Land For Life
Land Rejuvenation Specialists
80% of UK orchards have been lost!
In the last 100 years the number of traditional orchards in England has fallen by 80%. Traditional orchards are defined as having at least five trees and being managed in a low intensity way. The loss of these traditional orchards is also natures loss.
The head of trees and woodland at the National Trust said, “traditional orchards, and the blossoms they bring create valuable early nectar sources for insects, which are often foraging for scarce resources in the early spring. They provide an important bridge for insects that rely on these particular ecosystems, which is one of the reasons why planting more blossom trees is such a vital part of our future.”
Land For Life creates traditional orchards in partnership with councils, individuals, charities, and schools. These orchards can change a barren field with a little life into an oasis for insects and birds
Declining hedgerows
During the last 75 years, the UK has lost 50% of its hedgerows and what we do have left is being removed and miss-managed at an alarming rate. This needs to be changed urgently as we face up to the dual biodiversity and climate crisis in the coming years.
Hedgerows boost biodiversity, whilst absorbing carbon and improving air quality, they also part of our cultural heritage. Many people do not realise that they form the UK’s largest wildlife habitat and have a crucial role to play in increasing biodiversity.
Land For Life will be planting thousands of new hedges during 2024, creating a wonderful habitat for animals and nectar from blossoms for bees and butterflies hedges make an attractive gain to the landscape.
Bees under threat
We all hear that the bee population is declining. At present 35 UK bee species are under threat of extinction, and all species face serious threats. Losing our bee population would have a serious impact on how the world functions bees pollinate much of the food that makes our diet healthy and tasty.
Land For Life is introducing new bee colonies on all its sites an average hive has 60,000 bees and we hope to introduce up to 60 new colonies this year. Our bees will be cited in our orchards, so they have plenty of pollen available from both the trees and hedgerows. We are also planting lavender and other be friendly plants throughout our sites. Best of all we get to enjoy one of nature’s best foods, honey.
In 2023
We planted over 800 half standard fruit trees.
We planted over 2,200 native hedges including Hawthorn and Blackthorn.
We created over 100 partnerships with companies, schools, charities and individuals. All of whom want to improve the environment and biodiversity.
So what are we doing in 2024?
During 2024 we are going to Plant over 12,000 native hedges, we have already planted over 1,000 hedges in January of this year.
We will be planting an estimated 3,500 fruit trees. These will include Apple, Pear, Cherry, Damson, Crab Apple, Fig and Plum.
We will be planting different varieties of each fruit tree, especially the more rare and historic trees. we will also be creating 60 new bee colonies with approximately 60,000 bees in each hive.