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Limbury Meads orchard

This orchard lies on a south-west facing slope between the playing fields in Limbury Meads and the River Lea. The 22 fruit trees of mainly Bedfordshire heritage varieties are nurtured by a group of local residents with help from Luton Council's Nature Conservation Volunteers.

Summary

Location: Limbury
Size: 0.17ha
Number of trees: 22 approx
Crops: apple, pear, others to be confirmed
Age of trees: recently planted trees, young trees, established trees
Access: any time, council-owned
Natural England incremental ID: BEDF0429

History

The orchard sits on a south-west facing slope between Icknield Recreation Ground, the River Lea and the Cat Brook.

The original information board tells us that '27 trees were planted by the local community in February 2011. They are all local varieties of apple, pear and plum that were originally raised and produced in Bedfordshire'.

The information board, which has now been removed, shows the broad involvement in this project. Groundwork, East of England Apples and Orchards project, Friends of Icknield and Runfold Park, Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity, Chalk Arc and Luton Council were listed. Thanks were given to Luton Lions Club, Friends of the Earth, Transition Luton and the Meads Primary School.

Additional trees were planted in 2015, but as of 2019, many of the previously planted trees had died. To help keep the orchard alive, volunteers planted a further 8 trees of local Bedfordshire varieties in March 2019.

The original information board, which was removed due to its poor condition. Thankfully, it has been kept safely at the offices of Luton Council's Parks and Countryside Service and we were able to take a photograph of this important record.

List of crop types and cultivars at Limbury Meads orchard

Fruit trees at Limbury Meads are Bedfordshire heritage varietes of apple, pear, cherry and plum. They include the Queenby's Glory apple, which was submitted to the National Fruit Collection from Wrest Park in 1949, but is thought to be older.

Plan of Limbury Meads orchard, drawn by David Oakley-Hill in 2019.

Plan of Limbury Meads orchard, updated by David Oakley-Hill in 2024.

Plan Planting date Type Cultivar

1 2011 or 2015 unknown

2 2011 or 2015 unknown

3 2011 or 2015 unknown

4 2011 or 2015 unknown

5 2011 or 2015 unknown

6 2011 or 2015 unknown

Some of these could be the following:

TBC 2011 or 2015 Apple (Malus) Laxton's Triumph

TBC 2011 or 2015 Pear (prunus) Pitmaston Duchess

TBC 2011 or 2015 Pear (prunus) Laxton's Foremost

TBC 2011 or 2015 Apple (Malus) Bedfordshire Foundling

TBC 2011 or 2015 Apple (Malus) Rosy

TBC 2011 or 2015 Apple (Malus) Laxton's Epicure

7 2019 Cherry (Prunus) Morello

8 2019 Apple (Malus) Lord Lambourne

9 2019 Apple (Malus) Pam’s Delight

10 2019 Cherry (Prunus) Stella

11 2019 Plum (Prunus) Bountiful

12 2019 Apple (Malus) Laxton’s Superb

13 2019 Plum (Prunus) Laxton’s Delight

14 2019 Cherry (Prunus) Celeste

15 2019 Apple (Malus) Lord Lambourne

16 2019 Apple (Malus) Laxton’s Superb

17 2019 Apple (Malus) Beauty of Bedford

18 2019 Apple (Malus) Duchess of Bedford

19 2019 Apple (Malus) Queenby's Glory

20 2019 Apple (Malus) Laxton’s Advance

21 2019 Plum (Prunus) Laxton’s Blue Tit

22 2019 Apple (Malus) Hambling’s Seedling

23 2019 Apple (Malus) Laxton's Leader

24 ca. 2020 Cherry unknown

25 ca. 2020 Cherry wild cherry

26 ca. 2020 Cherry wild cherry

27 TBC

28 2022 Apple (Malus) Laxton's Triumph

29 2022 Apple (Malus) Bedfordshire Foundling

30 2022 Pear (Pyrus) Pitmaston Duchess

31 2022 Pear (Pyrus) Laxton's Foremost

32 2022 Apple (Malus) Laxton's Epicure

33 2022 Apple (Malus) Rosy

Planting at Limbury Meads in 2019 with Bedfordshire nurseryman Colin Carpenter (centre), and organisers of the planting day Colin Hall (left) and David Oakley-Hill (right).

Attempts to keep rabbits and mice at bay, as they like to nibble the soft bark of young trees.

Maintenance and pruning

Many trees at this orchard suffered from rodents gnawing the bark near ground level. Volunteers worked rabbit mesh into the ground around the trees to try to mitigate this problem.

A build-up of material around the trunks of some trees caused collar rot. At a 2024 volunteer task we tried to re-expose the tree trunks to improve ventilation, while still leaving adequate protection in place against rodents and deer.

Trevor Tween, Luton Council's Senior Landscape and Ecology Officer (right) and a council conservation volunteer at an orchard maintenance day on 22 April 2024.

Volunteers working away in the Limbury Meads orchard.

Weeding the tree circle and topping up woodchip mulch while ensuring that the immediate tree trunk stays clear.

Further research ideas for the Limbury Meads orchard

tag all trees
identify cultivars of older plantings

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