A meadow full of fruits!
These are our fruit trees which show lovely blossoms during spring and we love their tasty fruits in summer. Apples, pears and cherries don´t just taste very good but are also very important for the animals. Bees collect nectar while birds eat fruits. Please help yourself to some fruits and enjoy!
Lots of insects such as bees, butterflies and bugs live on orchard meadows. They´re very important little helper because some of them pollinate flowers and fruit trees. When a bees flies from one flower to another it helps the plants to multiply. Without insects there would be less fruits for us to eat!
One square meter of orchard meadow can bring up about 8.000 small insects and other small animals. This kind of food supply attracts birds and bats to come looking for food and shelter. Also deadwood such as branches or even whole dead trees are very important to protect biodiversity. Species like dormouse, hedgehog and weasel can be found within the orchard meadows right next to lizards, slowworms and nocturnal bats.
Cave-nesting birds such as littel owl, turncoat, woodpecker and redstart find breeding grounds in ald trees and dead branches and right underneath their favourite hunting ground. The larvae of jewel beetle, longhorn beetle and many kinds of wild bees love to grow in rotten wood of fruit trees.
During spring especially insects such as bees, bumblebees, beetles and butterflies love the blossom of the trees and the meadow. Other species can´t wait for autumn and winter to start because they like the tasty fallen fruits. Checkerboard butterfly and rose beetle are also attracted by the rich blossoms of the meadow and the surrounding area. Wasps for example love to eat a fallen down pear.
The orchard meadow is more than just a collection of fruit trees. It´s a lively place playing a very important role in nature and telling stories. Next time picking an apple from a tree just hold on for a second thinking about all those animals and plants living on the orchard meadow.
Protect and appreciate the orchard meadows – they´re small treasures on earth!