Photo by Liz Reece Harris
Malvern Vale – a Severn Treescapes case study
This smallholding near Upton-upon-Severn is a beautiful area of permanent grassland, bordered by a stream and a mature hedgerow containing several veteran trees. The site is grazed using a flock of sheep and a couple of fluffy donkeys. The landowners also have an apiary and a few fruit trees.
The site was originally visited in January 2024. The landowners were very enthusiastic about enhancing the site to benefit biodiversity and improving habitat connectivity as well as benefiting their own animals.
Photo by Simone Mansi
An acre of diverse woodland was planted in a wet boggy area, creating a small stepping stone within the landscape. The trees and shrubs will provide shelter for insects, birds and mammals as well as food for wildlife in the form of blossom and wild fruit. A browsing hedge was planted adjacent to the woodland, consisting of non-thorny palatable species, to increase the diversity of food available for their livestock.
A hedgerow was planted across the entire site, creating natural barriers between paddocks and greatly increasing habitat connectivity for wildlife to move through and around the site. More trees were planted in and around the apiary to benefit the honeybees by providing additional shade, sources of pollen and nectar. All improvements were completed by Christmas 2024.
The owners of Malvern Vale said…
“We wanted to express our appreciation for being involved in the Treescapes project; we have a newly fenced area of .25 hectares, which has been planted with 525 whips of mixed native trees and hedging.
“We now have an impressive woodland planted, which will grow and blossom over the years, giving environmental benefits and enjoyment for generations. It will transform a boggy piece of grass to become full of bird and insect life and give shade to livestock on the other side of the fence. It will also join up with 550 metres of Rural Payment Agency (RPA) funded hedging (and extra fencing to stop it being eaten by livestock) to create a wildlife corridor, connecting established hedges that surround 10 acres of grass (with an apiary in the middle that has more trees in).
“None of this would have taken place had it not been for Charlotte and Simone. We will always be grateful for the way that they enabled this Treescapes development to take place. Both have given us time, patience, enthusiasm and insight in their suggestions and have provided practical support throughout. Simone has taken on the execution of the project with great attention to detail, fantastic, cheerful and efficient communication between us and the contractor, timely ordering and responsive messages. He has followed up on our requests for particular tree and hedge species and organised and delivered these and the stakes and guards, providing a planting plan that he discussed with us.
“Simone helped out with the planting itself and provided further steer to the other members of the planting team. In all this he has been professional, an excellent communicator and a positive force enabling the project to be completed quickly. We have thoroughly enjoyed being part of this exciting project and are totally delighted by the result.
“We would be happy to talk to others who might be considering taking on a Treescapes project and who are unsure what’s involved.”
