RESIDENTS and schoolchildren in Greenlands, Tavistock have been planting fruit trees grown locally to make their surroundings look beautiful.

Staff and pupils from St Peter’s Church of England Primary School were delighted to receive several fruit trees recently, grown for them in the Tamar Valley. These have been planted both in their local park and at the school as part of an ongoing community gardening project to promote biodiversity in the area.

The school council has taken responsibility for choosing the sites and planting the trees at St Peter’s; their trees will fruit in the autumn when the children have returned following the summer break.

The Greenlands Tenants and Residents Association will look after the trees in the park. These will fruit earlier and should be ready to pick during the summer months.

The trees were grafted by Endsleigh Garden Nursery in Milton Abbot and are all Tamar Valley Apple varieties; they were grafted specifically for this project, ensuring that each collection is in the same pollination group.

A spokesperson said: ’The residents, staff and pupils are grateful to Cllr Debo Sellis for funding, Ali Sedgwick from Tavistock Community Gardening for her continued advice and support and LiveWest for allowing the trees to be planted on their land.’