Berry Lodge Farm – a Severn Treescapes case study

A photo showing a newly planted tree with yellow leaves surrounded by metal fencing held up by two posts in a green space with a line of autumn trees behind it

Photo by Simone Mansi

Berry Lodge Farm – a Severn Treescapes case study

A photo of a brown sheep with a white strip on its face looking at the camera standing in a green field next to a trailer with a yellow sack inside it and a person, wooden fencing and trees behind

Berry Lodge Farm is a lovely smallholding with rental apartments close to the Three Counties Showground near Malvern. It is blessed with beautiful views of the surrounding countryside including the Malvern Hills. The site has mature ash coppice and a sheep paddock that houses a small mixed flock of very lively Zwartbles, Castlemilk and Jacobs sheep.

Having made contact with the landowner through the Three Counties Show, our trees and woodland advisor visited the site in July 2024. This enabled the advisor to provide the landowner with targeted, management advice and guidance, both during the visit and afterwards, through the production of a Severn Treescapes report. The advisor provided management guidance on a variety of themes including sustainable management of coppiced woodland, value and suitability of in-field trees and the identification and management of tree disease. The in-field trees (species and location chosen with the landowner) will provide shade and shelter for livestock.

A photo showing a person holding the trunk of a small tree that is just about to be planted in a hole that has been dug in the ground with metal fencing and wooden posts around it in a field with autumn trees in the background and a wheelbarrow full of soil in foreground

Pedunculate oak was chosen to be a large and long-lived in-field tree that will create shade and shelter for the sheep, while species like rowan, wild cherry and crab apple will also provide blossom and fruit for wildlife.

The in-field trees were funded through the Malvern Hills National Landscape’s Farming in Protected Landscape (FiPL) program. The trees were planted during winter 2024 and thanks to the landowner’s diligent watering and care they are thriving, despite the drought conditions of 2025.