Traditional Orchards BNG Units
High
Grassland
Trusted by Developers and Landowners
What is
Traditional Orchards
Traditional orchards are a mosaic habitat of fruit and nut trees set in permanent grassland, which is often grazed or cut for hay. Unlike modern intensive orchards, they are low-intensity systems with widely spaced, long-lived trees managed without chemicals or heavy machinery.
They combine veteran trees, deadwood, grassland sward, hedgerows, and sometimes ponds or scrub. This structural variety makes them rich for wildlife and distinct from commercial orchards.
Why It Matters for BNG
Traditional orchards contribute tree-based habitat units and support species rich grassland beneath. They offer stable, long-term enhancement options and help projects meet both BNG and landscape requirements.
Restoring or creating traditional orchards provides dual income through fruit production and BNG units. Low intensity management increases habitat structure and long-term ecological value.
Where Do They Grow?
Traditional orchards are found across England and Wales, often in lowland valleys and settled landscapes. Key concentrations include:
• South West counties such as Devon and Somerset
• The Welsh borders, especially Herefordshire and Gloucestershire
• Kent and the South East fruit belt
• Pockets in the Midlands and East Anglia
They are strongly linked to historic patterns of settlement, where orchards supplied local cider, perry, and fruit.
Soil Preferences
Traditional orchards are planted on a wide range of soils, but most often on fertile, moderately drained lowland soils suitable for fruit tree establishment. Their ground flora reflects both soil type and management history, from species-rich pasture to rye-grass swards.
How New Traditional Orchards are Created
Inputs
• Select appropriate fruit or nut varieties, preferably traditional local cultivars
• Plant at wide spacing (5–12 metres apart) to allow tree maturity and understorey development
• Use semi-standard or standard trees on vigorous rootstocks for longevity
• Establish wildflower-rich grassland beneath, ideally by sowing meadow mixtures or using green hay
Management
• Protect young trees with guards against grazing and browsing
• Manage grassland by hay cut or light grazing to retain low fertility
• Avoid pesticides and herbicides to allow invertebrates and herbs to thrive
• Retain margins or hedges for connectivity between habitats
Landscape
• Site new orchards near existing traditional orchards or veteran trees to extend habitat networks
• Integrate with surrounding hedgerows, pastures, or wood-pasture systems
• Maintain traditional orchard layouts reflecting local character
Target Condition
Traditional Orchards in good condition should:
• Contain mature or veteran fruit and nut trees with a range of ages and structures
• Support deadwood both in trees and on the ground
• Have a semi-natural understorey, managed for hay or light grazing
• Show continuity of low-intensity management, without fertiliser or pesticide inputs
• Retain features such as hedgerows, ponds, or uncultivated margins
The BNG Value of
Traditional Orchards
• Distinctiveness: High, Priority Habitat
• Condition Potential: High, though dependent on long-term low-intensity management
• Habitat Connectivity: Provide stepping stones between woodlands, hedgerows, and grasslands
• Climate Services: Support pollinators, store carbon in trees and soils, buffer local climate extremes
Species Typical of
Traditional Orchards
🌳 Trees and Shrubs
• Apple, pear, cherry, plum, damson, walnut
• Veteran tree features such as cavities, rot holes, hollow stems
🌱 Grassland and Ground Flora
• Meadow herbs including knapweed (Centaurea nigra), bird’s-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare), yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor)
• Waxcap fungi (Hygrocybe spp.) and other unimproved grassland fungi where nutrient levels are low
🐝Invertebrates
• Noble chafer beetle (Gnorimus nobilis) — flagship orchard species
• Lesser stag beetle (Dorcus parallelipipedus) and other saproxylic beetles
• Pollinators including bumblebees and solitary bees
🐦 Birds
• Spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata)
• Lesser spotted woodpecker (Dryobates minor)
• Tree sparrow (Passer montanus)
• Mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus)
• Little owl (Athene noctua)
🐇Mammals
• Bats roosting in cavities, such as common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) and Natterer’s bat (Myotis nattereri)
• Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) in orchard hedgerows
• Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) foraging in sward
🍄Fungi and Lichens
• Rich lichen communities on veteran fruit trees, e.g. orange-fruited elm-lichen (Caloplaca luteoalba)
• Orchard tooth fungus (Sarcodontia crocea) associated with old apple trees
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Traditional Orchards?
A priority habitat characterized by low-density planting of local, standard-sized fruit trees, often with an associated species-rich grassland or scrub layer, creating diverse niches for wildlife.
How is BNG measured here?
The metric assesses the number and condition of the veteran/older fruit trees (which provide cavities and deadwood), the species richness of the understorey, and the overall management regime.
How can I achieve BNG?
Enhancement involves veteran tree management, planting new traditional varieties to replace aging trees, and managing the ground flora to be species-rich grassland. Creation involves planting new traditional orchards.
What is the BNG target condition?
A Good condition requires a mix of old, mature, and young standard fruit trees, a rich ground flora, and evidence of appropriate low-intensity management (e.g., light grazing).
What management is required?
Pruning old trees (minimally), replacing dead trees, and managing the understorey as a hay meadow (cut and remove) or with light grazing to maintain species diversity.
Exploring Other Habitats?
Upland Hay Meadow
Upland hay meadows are species rich grasslands dominated by a mix of fine grasses and abundant herbaceous wildflowers such as sweet vernal-grass, wood crane’s-bill, great burnet, pignut, and lady’s mantles.
These meadows have developed through long term traditional management that combines light grazing with a late summer hay cut. Rare species including lesser butterfly-orchid and burnt orchid are sometimes found.
This habitat is a dense mix of grasses and a wide variety of wildflowers, with no single grass species dominating the vegetation.
Upland Calcareous Grassland
Upland calcareous grassland is a springy, species-rich habitat occurring above approximately 250–300 metres on lime-rich, or “base-rich,” soils. The habitat develops as a short, species rich sward of calcicolous grasses, herbs and orchids adapted to alkaline conditions and cooler upland climates
The grassland appears patchy and open, with fine grasses, colourful herbs and scattered rock outcrops. Wild thyme, common rock rose and bird’s foot trefoil often grow alongside sheep’s fescue and upright brome, creating a varied mosaic.
Upland Acid Grassland
Upland Acid Grassland is a mix of fine grasses, mosses and small herbaceous plants adapted to low pH and limited nutrients. This habitat appears as an open grassy landscape, often dominated by mat grass or purple moor grass. Texture and color come from all patches of tormentil, heath bedstraw and scattered mosses.
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