Best fruit to grow in your garden
Gardening care and tree surgery tips from Pollard Tree Care, Eastbourne, East Sussex
As you might have gathered here at Pollard Tree Care we like to make the most out of the space we have and the best way to do this in your garden is to grow fruit plants. Not only are they pretty hardy and easy to grow but being able to spend evenings and weekends harvesting your own produce is pretty rewarding. Sitting down to breakfast with a couple of you own raspberries sprinkled into your smoothie, gives you the fresh, summer boost for the day.
What is also great is that with berries is that they all tend to ripen at the same time! This can be pretty stressful if you don’r have time to eat it all. What we like to do is either give it to a friend any time we see them, or freeze them. This means that you can enjoy the summer sugar and sun all throughout the year.
Our most favourite fruit to grow and one that once you have gotten it going will spread is Raspberries (Rubus idaeus). These plants like to grow in any container so you can grow a big 1mx1m patch like we have, or in small pots on your balcony. They are pretty hardy so they will come back year after year without much maintenance. Keep them in well drained places as they don’t like to be water logged and in the sunlight is preferable. During the summer months you will benefit from sweet, sun ripened seedy fruits. Air flow is important to these plants so even though it is amazing to have a mega patch, cut a few back to let the breeze pass through the patch. After the summer months have passed and you have eaten all the raspberries then cut back the stalks, pretty much to ground level. Don’t worry it will look pretty bare but this means they will come back next year bigger and stronger.
Strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa) These fruits are a classic in summer, strawberries and cream anyone. When they come around to the supermarket the red, shiny fruits are hard to resits. It is super easy to grow your own at home too and pretty much need a small amount of soil, water and sunshine and you have yourself a delicious snack. These too always want to grow and expand. They have little ‘runners’ that come off the main steam with little leaves and a few roots where the leaves are. This can be replanted and will continue to grow again. Therefore you buy one plant once and you will have strawberries for life. Plant your strawberry plant into your container or the ground on top a layer of well nutrient soil. This is best with manure or you can use organic fertiliser from the shop, or seaweed. Plant them in spring and the fruits will ripen in the summer sun. Pick when they are bright red and in the middle of the day when they are their sweetest.
Blueberries (Cyanococcus) the finally berry today that we love (there are too many that we couldn’t write about them all but these are our top three). These wonderful berries are high in antioxidants so not only are you adding some lush colour to your garden but your body will thank you for the time and effort of growing these fruit. They grow as shrubs so they are easy to grow in any container making them perfect for your moveable fruit garden. They are pretty easy to look after, keep the soil moist but not soaking and you will get some great fruits. Make sure you keep the plant topped up with fertiliser as this will keep it growing strong. Within the first few years pruning isn’t necessary, however after this prune them in late February to early March. The fruit will turn from green to dusky blue at the end of summer. This won’t happen all at the same time so go and visit the plant a couple of times to make sure you get the best harvest.
Top Tip As much we we love these berries, so do the birds. So if they have an eye on your berries, they WILL get there just before you. To avoid this get creative and make a next around your shrubs to keep the cheeky birds away.
