Grower’s Corner – soft fruit
Blackcurrants, redcurrants, and whitecurrants can be so easy to grow that they get neglected, they are often called the ‘compost heap plants’ because they and rhubarb are often abandoned to the corner by the compost or rubbish bin as not needing much care. However, you can really improve yields if you give them some attention. The first thing is that currant leaves can be damaged by strong sunlight, so aim to grow them in partial shade and in a sheltered spot that isn’t too wet. Blackcurrants need to be fed more than white or redcurrants but are also more tolerant of waterlogged soils. Blackcurrant bushes can easily grow from cuttings of around 20cm in length in autumn – simply place about three quarters of the cutting in a pot containing a mixture of garden soil and compost and place the cutting in the centre so it stays upright. Leave the pot outside over the winter and you should start to notice signs of life in spring when you can transplant them. Keep them well watered during their first few months, and again during the growing season. Prune once a year in autumn and apply a thick mulch of well-rotted animal manure or compost.
Gooseberries are another fruit that gives generously without asking much in return. You can grow eating or cooking gooseberries and the eating variety are somewhat more tender than their cooking cousins. Winter pruning helps to form a balanced branch structure and keeps the centre of the bush open to make picking easier – gooseberries are very prone to becoming congested and this reduces the size and quality of the harvest, also mildew disease is reduced if air circulation is good. To prune, remember that fruit forms on old wood and around the base of last year’s growth so you should cut back the previous year’s growth to two buds and cut out shoots that are growing into the centre of the bush, finally cut back leaders (long outward facing stems) by one-third. To get the best crop, start thinning gooseberries during late May removing about half the crop which can be cooked although it will need more sugar. This will give a longer cropping season and leaves others more room to grow to a larger size.
Raspberries love an annual mulch to feed their surface roots. Prune out old fruiting wood after each harvest and take out about a third of the new stems to keep the bushes open at the heart and easier to harvest. They are largely trouble free as long as you choose virus resistant strains, and should be treated like currants. Bushes need to be replaced every five to seven years.
Red currant and gooseberry photographs by mwri and foxypar4, used under a creative commons attribution licence