Healthcare Orchards Scheme
NHS Forest is pleased to officially launch our Healthcare Orchards scheme in time for the 2024-25 planting season. We have up to 2,000 fully funded fruit trees available for NHS sites in England. We anticipate high demand for these productive trees, so please do submit your expression of interest as soon as possible to make sure you don’t miss out!
Trees will be supplied as bare-rooted maidens (1 – 1.5 metres tall) in multiples of 10 from a choice of apple, pear, cherry, plum, damson, medlar and quince varieties. We’ll include all necessary planting sundries too (specifically one bio tree shelter, stake, rubber tie and mulch mat per tree).
Tree spacings will depend on the vigour of the rootstocks. We recommend 200 m² (2,150 square feet, 0.05 acres) per 10 trees in order to create a more traditional community orchard with semi-vigorous rootstock. Alternatively, a minimum area of 100 m² (around 1,075 square feet or 0.025 acres) could be used to accommodate 10 trees with dwarf rootstocks, however, this spacing is typical to commercial orchards.
There is a minimum order of 10 trees. These can be divided across multiple sites but must be planted in groups of 5 or more.
To aid sites in selecting the most appropriate trees, we will also be running online webinars in partnership with The Orchard Project
Webinar 1: Plan and create an orchard at your NHS site (18th September)
How to choose the best location for the orchard, select the fruit trees, design the layout of the orchard and plant the trees.
Workshop 2: How to look after the Orchard at your NHS site (25th September)
How to look after the fruit trees in the first few years, including mulching, formative pruning and dealing with common pests and disease
These free-of-charge workshops will take place online using Microsoft Teams and can be booked now.
The training will be recorded but please attend live if you can. The training is also open to any NHS staff or volunteers who would like to learn about orchards and their role in a healthcare setting.
Want some ideas about how you can engage patients and staff with an orchard? See our blog and downloadable seasonal calendar for orchards.
Looking to plant more than just fruit trees? You could consider incorporating our Wild Food bundles that are perfect for foraging; or why not plant Shelterbelt bundles adjacent to your new orchard to help attract pollinating insects? For more information about our native tree bundles and to submit an expression of interest, visit our tree bundle page.