When traveling to Mediterranean countries, it is not difficult to notice an abundance of fruits, mainly citrus, growing along the streets, in home gardens and parks. However, it turns out that there are quite a few fruit trees growing on the Vistula as well. Mirabelles, apples, cherries and pears - these are the fruits we most often pick in Polish cities. Gliwice, which has announced the creation of an urban orchard, is also dreaming of a sweet harvest in the middle of the city. What impact do fruit trees have on urban ecosystems? Is it safe to eat them?
The latest initiative from under the sign of urban orcharding is planned by Gliwice, which in recent days announced plans to create a space open to residents that will include fruit trees.
Urban orchard in Gliwice
The first urban orchardin Gliwice will be establishedon Jasna Street in Trynek - a residential area located in the southern part of Gliwice, right next to the Żwirki i Wigury estate. The plan developed by the City Planner's Office in cooperation with the Municipal Utilities Board provides space for 56 new trees. Fruit will grow on apple, cherry, plum, pear and Asian pear trees. According to the Gliwice City Hall, the trees will be enclosed by a small fence, and the entire developed area will be complemented by small architecture - wooden benches and deck chairs.
Project of the city orchard at 31 Jasna Street in Gliwice
© Office of the City Planner of Gliwice
We want to combine ecological, social and aesthetic functions in Gliwice. The location was chosen so that it is easily accessible to residents. I believe that this is a place with potential and can become an intimate and very pleasant integration point for residents, a place for environmental education and relaxation
- says Judyta Wisniewska, landscape architect of the Gliwice Municipal Office.
Although the new trees will adorn the neighborhood with additional greenery in the near future, the harvest will have to wait a few more years. Instead, the city announces that if the orchard is a success, more spaces of this type may be created. Can they learn from other Polish cities where they have decided to plant fruit trees?
Urban orchards in Poland
Although the idea of an urban orchard is not new, few were established in post-war Poland. One of the first urban orchards was established thanks to funds from a Civic Budget project in Konin in 2016. Fruit trees by the Construction and Vocational Training School Complex had been growing for decades, but the orchard had been forgotten and neglected. When dozens of trees were planted there in 2016, it changed beyond recognition, and briefly returned to the consciousness of city residents. Recently, thanks to the activities of local youth, the orchard is reviving, and representatives and representatives of the Young Climate Ambassadors plan to create a social space there, Jungle 510.
A year later, the Educational Fruit Orchard was established at the Rzeszow Reservoir, in 2019 the first urban orchard was created in Poznan's Citadel, and in 2021 fruit trees began to grow in an orchard in Tychy. Last August, the creation of a similar space was announced in Gdansk.
Traditional orchard
Photo: Ratomir Wilkowski © CC BY-SA 30 | Wikimedia Commons
Can you eat fruit from trees growing in cities?
Walking through villages and on the outskirts of small towns, we often come across fruit trees growing wild or apples falling on the roadside path from an apple tree that has long since begun to extend beyond the fence of the home garden. We usually have no doubts about whether it is safe for us to eat such finds. The situation is different for fruits that have grown on trees planted in cities. Concerns are raised primarily about contaminants that can find their way into tasty mirabelles, plums and apples, and then - after eating such fruit - into our bodies. Is there really anything to fear?
The answer comes from a 2020 study conducted by scientists affiliated with Wellesley College's Department of Geosciences, which collected 166 fruit samples from trees growing in Boston, Cambridge and Sommerville. Laboratory tests showed no higher concentrations of lead in the apple, pear and cherry samples tested. What 's more, the tested fruits were found to contain more vitamins and other valuable nutrients compared to their store-bought counterparts.
Fruit trees in cities support biodiversity
Photo: Olivier Piau © Unsplashfree
According to an advisory by Dr. Johnathan Leake of the University of Sheffield, fruit harvested from trees growing in the city is safe to eat as long as they are not near busy roads or other polluted areas. In contrast, as a study by a team of researchers from the Universities of Tehran, Birjand and Brisbane showed, the least contamination is found in the fruit of trees that are shielded from roads by architectural barriers, such as tall buildings.
Where to pick such fruits? The map available at https://fallingfruit.org/ will help with this, and we will learn from it where fruit trees grow, what species they are, and what quality and quantity of yield we can count on. The map also works in Poland, and anyone using it can add more trees.
St. Anne's community orchard in Nottinghamshire
Photo: Clem Rutter © CC BY-SA 3.0 | Wikimedia Commons
Fruit trees in urban ecosystems
Fruit trees can play an important role in urban ecosystems, having a much greater impact on biodiversity rates compared to other tree species. Supporting the abundance and diversity of urban life through fruit trees occurs on several levels. The first is generating food for birds and insects. Smaller fruits such as mirabelles and cherries make great food for birds, which are also eager to use their dense crowns for nesting. In addition, fruit trees bloom profusely, providing pollen and flower nectar for pollinators, which are increasingly scarce in cities. The fruit that falls to the ground also enriches the soil.
Urban orchards also have a social function
Photo: Christiann Koepke © Unsplashfree
Planting fruit trees in cities also has a myriad of positive effects on the societies living in them. Urban farms are not only natural phenomena, but also social ones. As Juliette Collinas of McGill University in Montreal points out, urban orchards increase the attachment of those who use them to their city, promote intergenerational integration, and have a positive impact on the level of knowledge about ecosystems, healthy eating and sustainability. Although it is not possible everywhere, it is definitely worth planting fruit trees in cities, creating space for the development of a symbiotic relationship between fauna, flora and their inhabitants.
