Traditional Orchards

Importance for wildlife

This is the only Priority Habitat recognised for the importance of both the fruit crop with its associated great variety of fruit cultivars and the habitat itself. The patchworks of fruit trees and non-fruit trees, scrub, hedgerows, fallen dead wood and associated features such as ponds, together with the variety of fruit and nuts, attracts and supports a wide variety of species including insects and other invertebrates, mammals, birds, mosses, epiphytes, fungi and lichens.

Important associated species

Birds
Dunnock, Tree Sparrow, Starling, House Sparrow, Bullfinch, Song Thrush, Cuckoo, Hawfinch, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Spotted Flycatcher, Marsh Tit, Turtle Dove, Linnet

Mammals
Hazel Dormouse, Harvest Mouse, Hedgehog, Common Pipistrelle*, Soprano Pipistrelle

Reptiles and Amphibians
Common Lizard, Grass Snake, Slow-worm, Great Crested Newt, Common Toad

Beetles
Stag Beetle

Moths
Goat Moth, Knot Grass**, Brown-spot Pinion**, Beaded Chestnut**, Green-brindled Crescent**, Mouse Moth**, Large Nutmeg**, Centre-barred Sallow**, Dark Brocade**, Mottled Rustic**, Figure of Eight**, September Thorn**, Dusky Thorn**, August Thorn**, Spinach**, Garden Dart**, Small Emerald**, Ghost Moth**, Rustic**, Rosy Rustic**, Lackey**, Brindled Beauty**, V-moth**, Dot Moth**, Rosy Minor**, Buff Ermine**, Pale Eggar**, Cinnabar**, Dark-barred Twin-Spot Carpet**

Fungi
Orchard Tooth

*Suffolk Priority species
**Priority - Research Only. Common and widespread, but rapidly declining

Factors affecting habitat in Suffolk

• This habitat is found in small patches within or adjacent to settlement and it is extremely susceptible to loss from construction projects and conversion to gardens or pony paddocks
• Orchard production is under commercial pressure and traditional orchards are less economically viable. Increasing organic production and marketing of traditional varieties can help traditional orchards. However old, small orchards, especially in the claylands, are still under severe pressure.
• Site management issues: Neglect of trees and inappropriate pruning; Inappropriate grazing, and/or lack of tree protection from grazing animals; Poor management of grassland around the trees; Failure to replace trees as they are lost.

Habitat management advice

• Create continuity by planting young trees, keep old varieties going by grafting to make new trees. Plant a mix of early, mid and late-flowering trees for longer-lasting food sources.
• Standing decaying wood is valuable, retain dead wood, hollow trunks, cracks in bark and rot holes, that support saproxylic insects and provide nesting / roosting areas for birds and bats.
• Keep standing deadwood as long as possible. Where it must be pruned stack it nearby and create log or brushwood piles.
• Leave unwanted fruit on the tree or where it falls as an important source of food in the autumn and winter.
• Maintain a varied orchard floor. Staggered and late mowing, and leaving a strip of rough grassland, improves habitat and enables flowering plants to set and disperse seed. Leave an area uncut to for insects to overwinter. Remove grass cuttings and avoid adding fertilisers as low fertility grassland supports greater diversity.
• Keep some grass short as a habitat for grassland fungi. Leave patches of nettles and brambles, nettles are the larval food-plant for several species of butterfly and brambles provide a late source of nectar, an abundance of fruit, thorny shelter and a great predation ground for insectivores.
• Maintain a suitable grazing regime to ensure invasive scrub is kept down, a supply of dung is present to support specialist invertebrates, and flowering plants/shrubs are retained.

Vision for Suffolk

1. Improve knowledge of extent and quality of traditional orchards.
2. Maintain the existing extent of traditional orchards to ensure no net loss.
3. Re-create traditional orchards as opportunities arise.
4. Encourage the restoration and improvement of degraded traditional orchards.

Where to find further information

On our Traditional Orchards pages

• Barnes, G. and Williamson, T. 2021 The Orchards of Eastern England: History, Ecology and Place. Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press
• Fruit ID – website
• JNCC – Habitat Description (pdf)
• MAGIC website – interactive mapping information including designations
• Making Space for Nature, a Review of England’s Wildlife Sites and Ecological Network 16 Sep 2010. Chaired by Professor Sir John Lawton CBE FRS. Defra website (pdf)
• Natural England – Traditional orchards information notes
• Natural Environment White Paper June 2011 – The Natural Choice: securing the value of nature (pdf)
• People’s Trust for Endangered Species – Traditional orchards: a guide to wildlife and management (pdf)
• Suffolk Traditional Orchards Research Group – advice notes
• Suffolk Wildlife Trust – Habitats Explorer

Image: A traditional orchard by Paul Read