Tree Care Day 2018
Our orchard is now fruitier, thanks to volunteers who turned out for our annual Tree Care Day in February.
Visitors gave their time and effort to help us plant more organic trees in our orchard overlooking the River Dart, in a day of gratifying hard work on the Sharpham Estate.
In turn they got tuition on pruning fruit trees from Sharpham's gardener Jesse Hammond, who shared tips and tool-knowledge on the day.
"Tree Care Day is a great example of how volunteers really help Sharpham, but have a good time together as well," said Maya Herbolzheimer, volunteer coordinator for The Sharpham Trust. "Everyone was so enthusiastic - and we got more done than we hoped, so that's really helpful for Jesse."
Volunteers planted young trees including plums, cherries, apples and a quince. All will eventually be used in the kitchens of Sharpham House, but it will be a while yet before they fruit.
The volunteers weren't only digging holes for the trees - they put in stakes to support the saplings, they laid biodegradable matting to prevent weed-growth around the tree at its base. And then they dug in fence posts as tree-guards, to prevent the saplings being damaged by sheep grazing the orchards in the future.
