Grow soft fruitGrowing tips

Home-grown strawberries: a real treat!

Picking tasty, sun-warmed berries straight from the plant is a real treat. Home-grown fruit is ultra-fresh, bursting with health benefits, cheaper than the supermarket.

Where to grow fruit

You can grow fruit trees and bushes in your borders, in the veg plot and even in pots.

Most fruit likes a sunny, sheltered position in soil that never either dries out or gets waterlogged, and is not too limey – around pH6-7 is ideal.

If your soil is very sandy or heavy clay, dig in lots of bulky organic matter such as garden compost before planting. This improves sandy soil’s ability to hold water and nutrients, and opens up heavy soil so the roots can penetrate more easily.

Pests and diseases

Fruit plants can tolerate a surprising amount of damage. Birds are the only pests likely to completely destroy your crop. Shut them out with netting, but keep it taut so they don’t get trapped. With diseases, choosing disease-resistant varieties such as those we’ve recommended for each fruit will help.

Buying soft fruit

Most garden centres stock a reasonable range of fruit, though they don’t always have the best varieties. Many mail-order seed companies also sell fruit and, though the choice is usually very limited, they often promote new varieties. For the best choice, buy from a specialist fruit nursery – see below.

When to buy

The best time to buy and plant is when the bushes aren't growing, but the soil isn’t too cold: mid-October to mid-December and late February to early April, in most areas. This is when mail-order nurseries supply bare-rooted plants – these have been lifted from the ground, the soil shaken off, and the roots wrapped up before despatch.

You must get these plants back in the ground within a few days of their arrival, and keep the roots moist at all times. In late spring and summer, container-grown fruit will be available at garden centres. These can stay in their pots until you’re ready to plant them, provided you keep them watered.

Soft fruit stockists

These specialist nurseries all stock a good range of soft fruit. 

• Blackmoor Nurseries 01420 473576
• Chris Bowers 01366 388752
• Deacons 01983 522243
• Dorset Blueberry Company 01202 891426
• Highfield Nurseries 01452 740266
• Keepers Nursery 01622 726465
• Ken Muir 0870 747 9111
• RV Roger 01751 472226
• St Bridget Nurseries 01392 873672
• Scotts Nurseries 01460 72306
• Welsh Fruit Stocks Bryngwyn, Kington, Hereford HR5 3QZ. Cat: send SAE