In fact, an acre of apples will extract about 15 tons of carbon dioxide from the air each year, and produce 6 tons of oxygen too. … Or, to put it another way, for every apple you eat, the apple tree is producing about 1 hour’s oxygen supply for you as well, and this, of course, is free of charge. theapplefarm.com
Apples are also eaten by mammals like badgers, hedgehogs, wood mice and voles, and they are a source of late-season sugar for butterflies, wasps, ants and other invertebrates
As they age, apple trees provide crevices and gnarly twigs ideal for nesting sites, insect homes and wildlife-attracting lichens. They can support mistletoe (Viscum album) – a local stronghold is the National Trust’s Cotehele orchards, near us. Mistletoe supports its own Mistletoe Marble Moth (Celypha woodiana), and Kiss Me Slow Weevil (Ixapion variegatum) and feeds the Mistle Thrush (note the name) and the Blackcap, one of our local songbirds.
from facebook feed;
Eco-Tatsfield Village: The Apple Project. This is something most of you can get your teeth into. Apple trees are great for the environment and planting one or more is a rewarding project for the urban eco-warrior. Obviously, eating apples is good for your health. Especially if you eat it, skin and all. Darker skins are higher in anti-oxidants. And try to buy local. As a food, apples are very eco-friendly. Per kilo, apples use very little water. And mop up CO2 and produce oxygen. Apple trees provide food and habitats for a variety of animals and food for insects, birds and also mammals like badgers and hedgehogs. The spring flowering not only adds early beauty to the garden but also a burst of flowers for the pollinators, particularly all types of bees. Apple trees can be bought as dwarfs and miniatures that can fit in very small gardens or even pots, and standards that grow as a single stem. We are almost at the end of the best time to plant apple trees, so go grab your favourite variety from a garden shop. I also saw lots of nice plants, very cheap, at Lidl last year. Bare-root plants are best planted in Autumn or late Winter. I’ll add more information on plant care on the website.