All are welcome to come along and enjoy the orchard at our public events: Wassail in January, Summer Orchard Open Day in June, and Apple Day in October.
Sign up to our mailing list for news of events, celebrations, courses, workshops and community volunteer days.
Summer 2026 – Events – Workshops – Courses
Summer Orchard Open Day
Sunday 14 June 2026, 2pm to 5pm
All welcome to enjoy the beauty, biodiversity & buzz
of a midsummer orchard
Community-led Programme event
Supported by the Natural History Consortium and Avon Wildlife Trust
Summer Fruit Tree Care – a taster session
Nature-friendly actions for healthy and fruitful trees
Hands-on taster session led by Shannon Smith (aka The Apple Tree Lady).
New roots, shoots, and fruits are growing fast! This is a practical introduction to insects and diseases that feed on fruit trees. It also touches on mulching, water matters, thinning excess fruit and mid-summer pruning.
Places are limited. Please book here in advance.
Drop-in sessions: Ecology of a Fruit Tree and Art in the Orchard.
Chat with orchard members while we work!
Bee Active, Bee Fruitful! – inspiring community pollinator project plantings for year-round food, forage and shelter.
Homemade cakes, refreshments, produce and plants for sale. Bring cash!
Join the orchard as a member, and help us turn Bristol into an orchard city.
Summer Orchard Open Day Workshops
Fundraising-by-donation
Please donate £5
Art in the Orchard led by Julian Gregg. Changing seasons and human activity inspire Julian’s watercolours, drawings and prints. All budding artists are welcome to enjoy this friendly plein air session. Bring your own art making materials, along with drinking water. Drop-in from 3pm to 5pm.
Seasonal Pruning & Fruit Tree Care
courses, taster sessions & workshops
HOCO provides hands-on learning and seasonal training opportunities in the orchard – everything from taster sessions at events, to courses for gardeners and community growers.
Hands-on workshops led by Shannon Smith (aka The Apple Tree Lady) at Horfield Organic Community Orchard (HOCO).
Coming soon!
More Growing Season Fruit Tree Pruning workshops
Sign up to our mailing list for news of events, celebrations, courses, workshops and community volunteer days.
Delayed Dormant Season Pruning – advanced workshop*Sunday 31 May, 10.30am to 1pm – this workshop has taken place
Building on previous training and experience to assess, plan, and prune mature fruit trees
*Suitable for participants who have been pruning more than 3 fruit trees, for at least 3 years, and taken part in at least 1 practical pruning training course.
Fees: £25 (full fee), £5 (HOCO member)
Places are limited. Please book here in advance.
Stone Fruit Tree Pruning and Care workshopSunday 31 May, 2pm to 4.30pm – this workshop has taken place
Introducing the basics of pruning and caring for healthy and fruitful plums, gages and damsons
Fees: £20 (full fee), £5 (HOCO member)
Places are limited. Please book here in advance.
Wassail
Saturday 17 January, 2026
Join us this Old Twelfth Night to raise the spirits for a fruitful new year.
Help us raise £5,000 to pay for orchard renewal projects, training workshops, regular community volunteer sessions, and public events.
Tickets are limited. Book early to avoid disappointment.
- Mulled juice and homemade cakes for sale – please bring cash!
- The Apple Tree Lady begins the ceremony at 2.45pm
- Pigsty Morris celebrate the season with fleet footwork
Apple Day
Sunday 19 October, 2pm to 4.30pm
Sharing our love of growing fruits trees since 1998
Celebrating the joy and energy of the apple harvest. HOCO grafted trees for sale. Fresh-pressed apple juice and home made cake!
Read how national Apple Day began in 1990
Our public events raise funds for HOCO through the sale of homemade cake, orchard-grown juice, and our own grafted fruit trees. Orchard lovers are invited to support the orchard by joining us as a Friend of HOCO.
Fruit Trees for Sale February 2025
We graft our favourite HOCO trees to raise funds for the orchard – and to turn Bristol into an orchard city.
* Here’s the list of Fruit Trees for Sale 2025
*Order here: HOCO Fruit Trees Order Form
“If I knew the world would end tomorrow, I would still plant new apple trees today.”
Fruitful Futures –
a climate resilience action project
Starting Saturday 14 June, 2025
Dates: Saturdays 14 June; 13 September; 8 November; 7 February (2026)
Plus: extra time for research and hands-on sessions – as needed
Times (to be confirmed): Co-learning session – 12pm-1.30pm, followed by Orchard Action session – 2.30pm-4.30pm
Design and lay the groundwork to plant and grow new fruit trees in uncertain times. Co-create an experimental, action research project in a community environment. Beginning with questions about: soil; unpredictable and extreme weather patterns; how to share knowledge with future growers. Seeking solutions that are low-tech, low-cost, joyful, and diverse.
Bring your hands, head, humour, and heart to this project. Recommended for participants with some previous growing experience, and an open mind, who wish to take action at the grassroots.
Course fee: £70 (HOCO Harvest-share member); £100 (Friend of HOCO)
We are open to new applications for this rolling, action-based programme.
The application process includes an informal phone chat.
Get in touch about Fruitful Futures here.
Seasonal Orchard Workouts
Free for HOCO members.
Non-members welcome (suggested donation £5).
Cheaper than a fitness class and doing good work in a community food growing project!
Spring blows in with groundworking, mulching, dry hedging, blossom and birdsong. Hands-on action sessions for a mega dose of daylight and green exercise. Activities range in intensity – there’s something for all abilities (and most ages).
We are growing our community of supporters by signing up new Friends of the Orchard. Joining HOCO as a Friend of the Orchard for costs £30 a year – less than gym membership for one month.
Get in touch for news of future Orchard Action sessions.
Seasonal Pruning courses at HOCO
More information about 2026 Pruning Courses on the Orchard Learning page
Community Events & Celebrations
Summer Orchard Open Day
Apple Day
Read how national Apple Day began in 1990
Wassail
Wake up the orchard for another year of health, happiness and harvest.
Apple & Pear Grafting workshops
Get in touch for news of future grafting workshops
Bee Active, Bee Fruitful!
Community Pollinator Project 2024
People-power is turning the orchard into a year-round source of food forage and shelter for the many kindly and diverse insects we rely on for fruit pollination. If they become hungry and homeless – so will we.
Bee Active, Bee Fruitful! is a Bee Bold Community Pollinator Project part-funded by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA). We are working with communities and nature to improve biodiversity and habitat for wild pollinators.
Join us as a Working or Friend Member