Community forest gardens for eco-homes
Berllan Aur (‘Golden Orchard’ in English) is a 15 dwelling eco-home development on the outskirts of Boncath, Pembrokeshire.
The developer Western Solar has created near-Passivhaus standard Ty Solar houses, powered by solar panels and batteries.
S4C aerial photo of Berllan Aur
The verges and gardens of the 10 affordable homes are created along forest garden principles, with edible shrubs for hedges, a range of fruit trees, native & edible climers, permanent living ground cover and UK native wild flowers.
Planting plan for affordable homes
The design attempts to incorporate the widest range possible of fruit bushes, including Blackcurrant, Redcurrant, Honeyberry, Japanese Quince, Jostaberry and Chuckleberry. The fruit trees are chosen both to provide a range of different fruit (apples, plums, Asian Pear, cherries) and also a range of different fruiting times, so that the harvest is spread over a longer period.
Jake took on a complex job to design and implement the gardens for 10 affordable homes at Berllan Aur, our Zero Carbon development. He produced an imaginative, low maintenance scheme including native species and sourced them cost effectively.
~ Glen Peters, CEO, Western Solar Ltd
There are also 6 north-facing, native, mini-woodland gardens. These include wildflowers such as Columbine, Foxglove, Yarrow, Meadowsweet and Hedge Woundwort, all great for a range of pollinators.
Columbine is a native wild flower. Photo by Roo72 on Wikimedia Commons.
There are a few edibles in the woodland gardens as well, including Hosta’Royal Standard’ and Hosta sieboldiana ‘Elegans’, plus some Rhubarb ‘Timperley Early’.
Planting plan for shaded woodland gardens in front of apartments
There is the potential of creating an extensive community forest garden, with shared vegetable beds, community area, tool shed and polytunnel.