It's crunch TIME

The most popular tree fruit grown in the UK, apples are a staple of the autumn harvest but our orchards are at risk

Apples are deeply ingrained into British heritage – so much so that there are dozens of folk festivals, songs and traditions dedicated to the fruit.

Since 1970, however, around two thirds of the UK’s apple orchards have been lost, and with them some important growing heritage.

At its gardens, the Royal Horticultural Society is aiming to bring orchards and apples back to prominence, by proving that there is space for an apple tree in almost every setting in the hope that different varieties will survive.

WHY ARE ORCHARDS IMPORTANT?

Traditional orchards are defined as at least five fruit trees planted with no more than 20m between them, and which are managed in a low-intensity way with little or no chemical input. This distinguishes traditional orchards from those managed intensively for fruit production, and recognises the role they play in biodiversity – offering ideal habitats for a wide range of amphibians, mammals and birds, as well as fungi, lichens and mosses.

Orchards also offer a connection to a way of life that is thousands of years old. It’s thought that Roman settlers in the UK brought the idea of cultivated orchards to the UK, though wild species of apple existed here long before. But it was the Norman invasion of 1066 that introduced a wider variety of apples and growing expertise, and the valued technique of making cider. Orchards were established at monasteries and the monks who tended them became adept at raising new varieties through cross-pollination.

YEARS GONE BY