Volunteers from Bratton’s Reeves Orchard took part in a hands-on training session this month, led by gardening and orchard expert Richard Cripps.
Richard Cripps, who is a former lecturer at Lackham College, demonstrated a range of orchard maintenance techniques, including how to remove vegetative growth, how to remove excess apples in order not to over-tax the apple trees and how to deal with trees whose boughs had already collapsed under the weight of abundant fruit.
“He set the volunteers to work on the trees in Reeves Orchard, keeping an eye on them to ensure that they had absorbed his lessons,” said group member Steve Crosby.
“The Orchard is becoming full of wildflowers and Mr Cripps spotted a caterpillar which will become a rare moth. ‘I haven’t seen one of these for years!’ he said.
“He was also thrilled to see a rare, wild cucumber or yam plant – he couldn’t quite be sure which, but it made all the hard work that has gone into the orchard worth it!” said Steve.
“He commended the inclusion of a bug hotel which has recently been installed by Bratton’s Parish steward, Dave Whyte and his colleagues out of material provided by Milestone Infrastructure.
“Not only was Mr Cripps’ training informative and practical but, his delivery was humorous and engaging, making the whole session a pleasure, his extensive knowledge meant that he could answer a wide variety of questions in depth.
“The day was a tremendous success and we all learnt a lot. We will be putting our new knowledge to good use over the coming weeks and months. We are very grateful to the Tree Council via Wiltshire Council for funding this training,” Steve added.
