On Friday 11 and Saturday 12 February many of our extended Univ family – staff and students alike – joined our Head of Grounds Maintenance, Robbie Eason, our Head Gardener, Bruce Taylor, and their team to help rejuvenate the Victorian orchard at Stavs.

With much of the central area cleared and a new compacted pathway created around the orchard the blank canvas was soon being tackled by a steady stream of volunteers across the two days.

The problematic Leylandii along the eastern boundary was stripped out and a new mixed hedge, comprising hawthorn, blackthorn, crab apple, elder, holly, spindle, dog rose and hazel, all designed to maximise year-round interest, was planted in its place. In the centre, nine new traditional variety fruit trees, a mix of apple and pear, were planted to fill out the orchard and bring ample autumn harvests for years to come.

Almost 80 new trees are planned for the Univ North site, with a material investment in native species, that will help to deliver a 16.77% increase in biodiversity, far above policy requirements.

Thank you to everyone who donned wellies and wielded a spade to help us in the transformation of this special place. We hope you enjoy this small gallery of images from “the big dig”.

Univ will continue reporting on sustainability initiatives from across College so please look out for these on our dedicated Sustainability at Univ page, our News Hub and social media channels – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Published: 9 March 2022

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