Students and Staff Plant New Fruit Orchard at Pembroke Sports Grounds

As they say, the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, and the second-best time is today. Well, for Pembroke, it was last week! With a view to helping protect our community and planet for the next 400 years, our latest sustainability initiative was launched on Wednesday 7th February, as a group of students and staff headed down to the Pembroke Sports Ground to plant a small orchard of native fruit trees and shrubs.

Consisting of apple, pear and plum trees as well as gooseberry, raspberry, rhubarb, blackberry and comfrey shrubs, the new orchard sits at the far end of the sports field as part of Pembroke’s Wellbeing Eco-centre, and in time will also have picnic benches and wildflowers so that the Pembroke community can really enjoy the space.

We hope that as well as providing enhanced habitat and food sources for wildlife, the space will offer easier access to nature for our community.

Joining our Sustainability Manager Rachael Dean in kicking off this new project were current and former Biodiversity Reps from the JCR, along with our Bursar Julie Saunders and Operations Bursar Vanessa Gouws, who all came along last Wednesday to kick off the project and get their hands dirty (see below for evidence), helping to plant the first trees.

Check back in a few years once the fruits of their labour are (literally) apparent!

 Thank you to the team from Oxford Landscapes who helped to get all the trees planted!