When we took over the neighbouring overgrown plot with old fruit trees we initially left the brambles and nettles to grow quite wild but this January we've been restoring it into a more traditional orchard.

The first big task was for Nigel and Sam to clear lots of twisted, thick brambles and dig out the roots.

They did an amazing job so we could get into the space to prune the apples and pear trees.

The old trees hadn't been pruned for many years so there was a lot of overgrown and crossing branches to take out. We also cut back the trees by about a third of their height.

This obviously left us with a lot of prunings to deal with. So, we used a variety of tools - bow saw, pruning saw, loppers and secateurs - to cut it all down.

The large logs will be seasoned and used for our fire sessions next year. And bramble prunings make fantastic kindling when they're dried so we've stored them for next year also.

We cut the thinner apple prunings into longer stakes and stuck them in the ground to mark a boundary across the back of the new orchard. We then used bundles of twigs to complete the natural boundary fence.

We will be levelling and scratching the ground in the orchard to encourage the grass to regrow and we'll plant some native primroses around the trees. Can't wait to sample the lovely apples and pears!

Great team work today!