GARDENERS at a National Trust hall will be nurturing their young trees with sheep fleeces this winter.
Visitors at Nunnington Hall, Near Helmsley, may mistake this strange procedure for a bizarre ritual, but the fleeces in fact have a horticultural dual purpose.
The sheep fleeces laid around the base of the young trees act as a mulch to control weed growth and break down slowly to allow nutrients to be absorbed by the trees.
Nunnington Hall's gardener, Jan Hoyland, was originally given the idea by the Herdwick Society, which supplied its own sheep fleeces for the task.
Now fleeces are donated by local farmers and volunteers working at the hall. Around 50 fleeces are used on young fruit trees in the three orchards.
She said: "It will look quite comical to see fleeces laid down around the trees."
A group of volunteers at the hall will be completing the task throughout next week.
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