Welland Legacy Park & Community Orchard

Welland Legacy Park & Community Orchard in View Royal is a 2/3-acre public park featuring over 200 fruit trees, preserving local agricultural history and honouring the Lekwungen Peoples’ long stewardship of the land

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Location

View Royal
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About

Welland Legacy Park Orchard is a 2/3-acre public park located in View Royal
The land was used and cared for by the Lekwungen Peoples for over 4,000 years
Originally cultivated by Rex Welland over the course of his life, the orchard now contains more than 200 fruit trees, including rare varieties of apple, pear, plum, hazelnut, fig, grape, kiwi, pawpaw, and others
For nearly two decades, Rex played an active role in the BC Fruit Testers Association (BCFTA), a non-profit organization focused on advancing fruit-growing knowledge in the region, preserving heritage varieties, and evaluating new ones
As part of his work with the BCFTA, Rex traveled throughout Southern Vancouver Island gathering scion wood from heritage apple trees, many of which now thrive in the orchard
Several of the orchard’s apple varieties were discovered and named by Rex himself, like the Duncan Green, Chemainus Yellow and Tillicum Mall
Before his passing, Rex placed a large portion of his orchard into a land trust with The Land Conservancy and gifted the property to View Royal in perpetuity
His vision was for the land to serve as a lasting public resource—a place where people of all ages could gather, learn, and be nourished for generations to come
There are Douglas fir, Chilean pine, and eucalyptus trees in the park
The orchard is open to the public from dawn to dusk seven days a week