Fruit Bushes

Fruit Bushes

Whether you have been gardening for years or have just picked up a spade for the first time, you should find planting fruit bushes fairly straightforward.
 
You don’t need a huge garden to plant fruit bushes, there are plenty of varieties that are perfect for small gardens.  Most soft and tree fruit will grow in miniature form and are perfectly happy in pots or up walls and trellis if space is really limited.
 
If you are a beginner or simply looking for fruit bushes that are easy to grow then you may want to consider strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, apples, blackberries, or goji berries – to name just a few.
 

Planting Fruit Bushes

The best time to plant your fruit bushes is between November and February. 
 
Fruit bushes love the sun and ideally should be planted in an open space. However, there are fruit bushes which will grow in shade, including gooseberries, blackcurrants, cherries, plums, pears and blackberries. 
 
Fruit bushes can be added to beds and borders but they can also be grown in containers or pots and some can even grow against a wall.
 
Start by soaking the roots and then dig a hole – no deeper than the original soil depth when you bought the bush – but big enough for some manure and compost as well as space for the roots. Place it in the hole and firm the earth around it and then give it some water. 
 
When it comes to planting soft fruit bushes, they will grow in most soil but ideally it should be rich and well drained - they don’t like heavy soil that can become waterlogged. You should dig over the area before planting to loosen the soil and add a handful of fertiliser. It will also need to be well-watered for the first few months, particularly during dry spells.
 

Caring for Fruit Bushes

Some soft fruit bushes will need pruning immediately after planting – this is important to help them survive and produce plenty of fruit.
 
You need to be pruning fruit bushes every year in late winter and early spring to keep getting fruit. Most will need their shoots pruned right back to encourage new growth.
 
Aside from this, many fruits will need pruning in a specific way which will vary from plant to plant. Gooseberries, for example, will need dead or diseased stems pruned out in winter as well as any that cross over and you may also want to cut back new growth by half.
 
Raspberries, on the other hand, need to be pruned dependent on whether they are summer or autumn fruiting. So, make sure you look into this for your individual fruit bush.  
 
Transplanting fruit bushes is easy. They can be moved when they are dormant usually between November and March. Make sure you prepare the new site well and place some well-rotted compost into the planting hole.