VAL BOURNE’S GARDEN WILDLIFE
Attract insect life with apple trees
FOR those who want an ecofriendly garden, it’s very important to choose plants that attract insect life. When I moved to Spring Cottage some 12 years ago, the only tree I inherited was a whitebeam (Sorbus aria). It was close to the spring and, because we are in an area littered with Roman archaeological sites, I imagined this might be an ancient tree. Apparently, it was a Roman tradition to plant a whitebeam close to springs.
The truth, as always, was far less romantic, because the previous owner of the cottage, Mary Spence, told me that this whitebeam had been planted in the 1980s. I’m glad I left it, though, because ivy scrambles upwards and shelters lots of birdlife and, if we have a good summer, the orange fruits attract thrushes and blackbirds in numbers.
When it came to planting my own trees, I was desperate to plant some apples. My old garden in Hook Norton had a glorious apple tree and there must have been more than 100 of the same variety in the village, although no one knew its name. In winter, the bark turned all greys, browns and greens. In spring, the blossom seemed to coincide with blue tits raising their chicks, so it was possible to watch as the parents caught all manner of wriggly creatures and ferried them back to their fledglings. In summer sunlight the trunk resembled an elephant’s leg, all smooth and grey. In autumn, the fallen fruit attracted butterflies and blackbirds.
The apple is one of the best trees to plant for wildlife because, in theory, you could attract 93 different types of insect. In the end, I chose three heritage varieties and, 12 years on, my ‘Pitmaston Pineapple’, ‘D’Arcy Spice’ and ‘Blenheim Orange’ are finally producing a crop that usually lasts until Christmas or beyond.
There is one other tree I wish I’d planted, though, and that’s a crab apple, because crab-apple pollen can cross-pollinate apple blossom. ‘Harry Baker’, named after a past superintendent of fruit at RHS Wisley, is a tremendous small tree. I once met Harry, and the tree named after him does him justice because it’s got large, magenta-pink flowers, dark spring foliage and it’s healthy. Some of the older ones are far from healthy.
In recent years there have been some exciting new introductions and they include Malus toringo ‘Scarlett’. The rich-pink blossom and deeply lobed purple foliage are followed by small purple crab apples. ‘Indian Summer’ has rose-red flowers followed by sizeable bright-red fruit.
“Crab-apple pollen can crosspollinate apple blossom”