The Parks Trust has planted three new community orchards across Milton Keynes over recent months, expanding the city’s rich network of green spaces and boosting local biodiversity. Two of the new orchards can be found within Loughton Valley Park and the third at Shenley Wood, and each feature a diverse mix of fruit trees which will be enjoyed by the community for years to come.
Previously these three sites were areas of short grass with very little variation in habitat, now they have been transformed into diverse orchards.
The first orchard within Loughton Valley Park close to Wymbush now hosts an impressive collection of 22 fruit trees, including apples, pears, cherries, plums, walnut, quince, mulberry, damson and medlar. Varieties such as Beauty of Bath, Egremont Russet, Concorde, Morello and the Broadview walnut provide a broad range of seasonal interest and flavour. At the second orchard at Loughton Valley Park near to Bancroft, The Parks Trust has planted 12 new trees, including apples, pears, plum varieties, a bullace and a walnut tree.
The Shenley Wood orchard features a structured planting of 10 Conference pear, 10 Braeburn apple and 10 Victoria plum trees, alongside a crab apple pollinator. The crab apple is used as a pollinator as they have a large blooming period and produce a lot of pollen, while being relatively small in comparison to the other trees, they also don’t require harvesting.
The tree planting was proudly supported by pupils from Oxley Park Academy, who joined The Parks Trust team to get the orchard established at Shenley Wood. All three of the orchards are expected to produce fruit within the next 3–5 years.
Milton Keynes is fortunate to have a growing number of community orchards, which play an important role in supporting wildlife, offering peaceful green spaces and providing healthy snacks for local residents.
Residents are welcome to pick fruit from orchards managed by The Parks Trust for personal, non‑profit use. Visitors are encouraged to take only what they need so that wildlife and other community members can enjoy the harvest too. Find out more about fruit picking, by clicking here.
This project was made possible thanks to funding secured last year from the Trees Outside Woodland (TOW) Fund.
