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Red Barn Orchard

This 12-acre sculptural heritage orchard in Herefordshire blurs the boundaries between living land art, heritage preservation and innovative agricultural design. It directly reverses decades of ecological decline by packing nearly 8,000 maiden-form apple cordons into a breathtaking, stepped star-shaped geometry. Visible from the air, this striking installation transforms a vital conservation project into an awe-inspiring productive tapestry.  

Date:
2021
Client:
Private
Collaborators:
Frank P Matthews

While the pattern looks beautifully complex, its layout is engineered for seamless, stress-free management. The stepped star shape naturally creates wide, unobstructed alleys for smooth tractor turning and rapid mowing. Setting 50 trees per 50-metre run keeps spacing perfectly uniform at exactly one metre per tree, maximising yield without overcrowding.

Strategic interior rows expand the total capacity to just under 8,000 heritage trees while protecting clear paths for maintenance machinery. The neat, single-stem cordon form ensures sunlight hits every tree evenly, dramatically simplifying pruning and harvesting.

This living collection protects nearly 100 historic heritage apple varieties, preserving rare genetic diversity that has been disappearing across England since 1950. The sprawling outer field margins enhance the local biodiversity providing space for local pollinators, beneficial insects, and native wildlife. This project proves that small-scale heritage orchards can be both stunningly artistic and agriculturally efficient.

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