Wester Ballindean Community Heritage Orchard

08/09/2026

Our wildlife pond is now starting to take shape. If you look closely you’ll see at the water’s edge a wee frog climbing out just as the pond margins were being finished -our first visitor!
Some initial planting of native plants has been completed with more to be done in the Spring. The pebbled beach area will allow small mammals such as hedgehogs a safe way to enter and exit the water. We’re hopeful that this pond will increase the biodiversity already evident in our heritage orchard.

09/07/2026

One of the orchard trees has unfortunately blown down in the recent high winds. Luckily it was only one of the damson trees (of which there are many) and not one of our lovely old pear or apple trees….but still sad to see any tree fallen. It is a timely reminder though to have some pruning work to the larger trees done over the winter to try to avoid losing any more trees. There has been no maintenance to any of the trees for many years and we’ll be taking advice from a heritage fruit tree expert as to what pruning is required.

19/06/2026

It’s been a busy few weeks in the orchard. We had a visit from Dundee Naturalists Society and are also having surveys done by ecologists and entomologists through the Buglife project People for Pollinators. We now know we have more than 30 types of plant (excluding the fruit trees themselves) and more than 10 types of fungi already present. The results of these surveys are useful and will be taken into account when future planning for the orchard is considered.
Various pathways have been cut through the orchard (avoiding our small patch of common spotted orchid that is currently looking good) and many trip hazards (rabbit holes, exposed tree roots etc) have been dealt with. We are always trying to balance biodiversity with community needs.

08/05/2026

08/05/2026

Further progress is being made with the removal of self seeded elders within the orchard. The bramble thickets cut down earlier in the year (before birds started nesting) have also now been cleared. This is making space for the planting of new fruit trees later in the year.
The importance of water for biodiversity is well known so we intend to have a wildlife pond in the SE corner of the orchard. The basic shape, including a shallow sloping “beach” area to allow hedgehogs and small mammals safe access, has now been dug and will need further fine tuning before the liner is installed and plants added.

05/04/2026

Delighted with progress in the orchard.

05/04/2026

The community has owned the orchard for less than a month and already there’s a huge difference to see. Accumulated litter has been collected, self seeded elders and other non fruit trees have all been cut down and chipped and, most excitingly, a new boundary fence has been installed which will protect the orchard trees to be planted in the future.
Many of the trees within the orchard have been hidden from sight for decades. Some of the oldest trees may be dead but they still provide an amazing habitat for so many birds, lichens and invertebrates as well as still looking magnificent in their own right.