Areas of the orchard and gardens

University Hospitals Birmingham has been working with Birmingham and Solihull mental health NHS Foundation Trust to identify 16,000 square metres of unused land around the hospital site. This will now be designated for food production or habitat enhancement.

The community orchard and gardens is an ambitious project that hopes to bring together a wide range of organisations, charities and businesses, all for the benefit of local people, and at no cost to the Trust. From wildflowers to growing fruit and vege beekeeping and woodland walks. The orchard will be a self sustaining project that covers 12 areas of the hospital campus, each with their own focus. Volunteers hoped to open up a section of woodland to use as a therapeutic space for patients at the Oleaster and Barbary.

In areas seven, eight and 11, some fringe planting will occur as well as inter planting of fruit trees at a later date.

In area four, there will be an area of raised beds for food production. Here we will see the collaboration between the conservation volunteers Freshwinds, a charity that supports people with life limiting illness, the University of Birmingham and Public Health England, the focus will be on how to sustain the involvement of the community in food growing projects. The raised beds will also form the outline of the Metchley Roman Fort. This is an area designated as sheduled ancient monument for which permission from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport must be granted before work can take place.

Between the raised beds and the new hospital building there is an open grass covered area which will become a wildflower meadow. This will be the centrepiece of the nature improvement area, or NIA. The nature improvement area is a joint collaboration with the Wildlife Trust and Natural England, who has provided local meadow hay for strewing across the site. This area also has plans along the eastern border to further grow fruit and vegetables. It is hoped that this will happen in partnership with a local food school. Local school children will be able to come to the community orchard and gardens to learn how to grow and cook their own fresh produce.

In collaboration with the woodland trust and Birmingham City Council, the overgrowth in area three will be cleared and a natural path will be made through the trees. The trees will provide shade and the wood will be underplanted with bluebells and snowdrops.

Area one and two has seen volunteers from Birmingham City Council and the Cofely Gardens Team plant a formal orchard of fruit trees and more mature trees. QEHB Charity have helped fund the priming of this with a generous grant of £5000 pounds.

The fish pond area has been cleared of overgrowth and some of the ivy that had grown to allow easier access. The area will be an outside space for elderly patients to exercise and has been developed in discussion with the Dignity in Care and Falls Prevention teams.

The site will also eventually become home to a quarter of a million honeybees. The bees will be essential to help ensure pollination of the fruit trees and flowers across the site and for up to three miles beyond. There are currently 50,000 bees on site kept by an expert beekeeper and are in an area that is above and away from any potential human disturbance to their colonies.

In addition to these exciting plans, we are working with the National Trust to bring one of the national collections of ferns to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham to further enhance and make green space. If you would like to get involved, email Orchard@uhb.nhs.uk.