Welland Community Orchard
Gather, harvest, and learn at one of the largest and most diverse community orchards in Canada. Once the backyard of local conservationist Rex Welland, the orchard is home to nearly 200 fruit trees and vines, including many rare varieties of apple, pear, plum, fig, grape, hazelnut, kiwi, paw paw, and more.
It was Rex’s vision to have his land loved, used, and stewarded by the public, and since 2013 we’ve been working with the Town of View Royal to turn the orchard into a community resource.
Can I visit the orchard?
All are welcome to explore this unique public treasure!
Located just off the Galloping Goose at 1215 Stancil Lane, the orchard is easily accessed by cyclists. There are two bus routes that drop you within walking distance. There is also a small parking lot at the end of Stancil Lane.
Can I Pick the Fruit?
Absolutely! Visitors to the Orchard are welcome to snack on some fruit when they visit. To ensure that there is fruit for everyone to enjoy, please follow our fruit harvesting guidelines.
Think of Your Community
This is a community orchard. Take only what you can eat in the Orchard so that everyone has a chance to enjoy the fruit. Please come to an organized harvest or volunteer day if you’d like to take fruit home.
Think of the Trees.
Harvest from the ground. Climbing trees or pulling branches will damage the trees. Their protection is needed for future fruit, this park, and oxygen for us to breathe.
Think of the Fruit
Harvest season is from mid-July to the end of October. To ensure that you get the best-tasting fruit, we use a coloured flagging tape system to let the community know what is ready to harvest. Please look for the colour on our garden shed.
Interested in volunteering?
We provide hands-on education to volunteers interested in helping to care for and restore this unique heritage orchard. Everyone is welcome, no previous experience or volunteer orientation is required. Checkout our event calendar to see upcoming opportunities, or sign up as a volunteer below.
Welland Workshops
If you’d like to brush up your knowledge of local fruit tree care and more, we provide workshops throughout the year to share knowledge on pruning, grafting, native pollinators and more.
Our next workshop will be Winter Fruit Tree Pruning on January 26th
For more information about Welland Workshops, please visit our Eventbrite by clicking the link below.
Workshop prices range per event and per demographic.
Accessibility Information
Access from the parking area off Stancil Lane is through a latching unlocked gate. There is a gravel/dirt path sloping downward from the gate that leads to a wide flat grassy area with picnic table seating. If you are coming from the Galloping Goose entrance, which also has a latching unlocked gate, you will find a gravel/dirt path that slopes upward to the wide flat seating area. This section of path has one small area with uneven exposed bedrock. The steepness of the path varies throughout the Orchard and is steepest at the top of the Orchard closer to the Stancil Lane entrance, and at the bottom between the Galloping Goose trail and the Orchard entrance. The pathway from the Galloping Goose to the entrance to the Orchard has several sharp turns.
The Orchard has a single-stall gender-neutral composting toilet facility on site with ramp access (and currently without transfer bars). The composting toilet is located below the flat area and toward the Galloping Goose entrance. There is a hand-washing station on site (without soap) but the water is not potable. Hand sanitizer is available inside the toilet.
If you require further information regarding site accessibility, please contact the Orchard Coordinator (River) at [email protected].
History
Rex Welland managed to pack quite a bit into his ⅔ of an acre, including an incredible collection of over 100 different varieties of apple (some of which may be the only known varieties and many of which are quite rare). When you visit the orchard, you’ll see 100 heritage apple trees on espalier trellis, pruned to the oblique cordon style. Other fruit trees include fig, pear, plum, persimmon, sour cherry, paw paw, hazelnut, shipova, medlar, and quince, and there are also grape vines and kiwi!
Passionate about native pollinators, Rex kept meticulous notes on the habits and life cycles, constructing nesting structures and habitats for the impressive diversity of solitary wasps and bees.
Rex’s dedication to the ecosystem is an inspiration, and we are humbled to be a part of his legacy by working with the Town of View Royal to care for and continue to develop this local treasure. With the help of our volunteers and supporters, we hope to build a public park that might help fulfill his ambitious dreams.