Planting orchards to restore Navan’s fruit and fauna

Local environmental group Wild About Navan has been working with community groups, schools and local residents to plant fruit trees in their gardens, and also advocate for planting more trees on their estate greens, parks, sport club grounds and other open areas in Navan. By St Patrick’s Day, the Dispersed Urban Orchard initiative will have expanded to more than 20 locations across the town.

In the not-so-distant past, almost every farm around Navan would have had an orchard. Traditional varieties of apples, pears, plums and damsons were in abundance. Growing fruit trees and bushes was common in urban gardens, too. As our modern lifestyles have evolved, we have seen a 75 per cent reduction in orchards across Ireland as our culture of growing and protecting orchards has disappeared.

“We have a great opportunity to embrace our local heritage by planting - or replanting - orchards with heritage fruit trees, including our very own, Blood of the Boyne apple trees and other heirloom varieties alongside native wild cherry, hazel, and rowan,” says Eimear Clowry Delaney of Wild About Navan.

Orchards are a haven for wildlife, and in addition to fruit crops they provide food and shelter for an abundance of fauna. Navan’s trees have many ecological benefits.: fruit trees are home to a range of insects, birds, bats, mosses and lichens. Wild bees and other insects have a vital ‘pollination service’ role in orchards. In turn, fruit trees provide nectar and pollen, essential for the survival of these important insects.

“Dispersed Urban Orchards increase biodiversity in our town and estate greens, and with that, we can expect to see an increase in pollinators, such as bees and butterflies. These same pollinators will visit other plants, such as flower beds in people’s gardens, so everybody benefits from an orchard in the community," explains Tiina Lynch, Wild About Navan.

Pruning workshop

To ensure that fruit tree growers across Navan’s gardens and estates know exactly what to do in the pursuit of an annual bounty, Wild About Navan hosted their annual tree pruning workshop at Solas Glan Community Garden in Ardbraccan.

The workshop forms part of the Dispersed Urban Orchard project, supported by a Meath County Council Heritage Small Grant Scheme. Local residents gathered on a recent Saturday afternoon to learn more about how to tackle tree pruning. Led by horticulturalist Joan Rogers, participants learned about how to choose and use the best equipment, how to identify and cut the branches in need of pruning and reminding tree owners of the need to pay attention to the tree, as well as the correct times of year to prune particular varities.

The project is supported by Community Foundation Ireland and Meath County Council. To find out more about Navan’s Dispersed Urban Orchard go to www.wildaboutnavan.ie and for information about Solas Glan go to http://solasglan.com/.