Growing Blackberries & Hybrid Berries

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There are many people who just love foraging around the countryside in the late summer or autumn for wild blackberries and if the berries are picked in time they are so very yummy! But getting the right time is a rather hit and miss affair and this right time changes with each season, so some years you may arrive to your favourite area to pick and find the berries are nowhere near ripe and some years you may find they are overripe or already picked! Continue reading →

Cordon fruit trees growing in pots

Potting Up & Re-potting Fruit Trees & Soft Fruits

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It is quite possible to grow most fruit trees and soft fruit plants in containers; however to do this you do need to carefully prepare in the same way that you would prepare the open ground before planting out. Unfortunately many people acquire a tree or plant and then just shove it in a pot or container without any thought and that usually ends up with the poor thing hardly surviving or perhaps dying. Continue reading →

(image for) Pomona Fruits

Planting in Wet or Frozen Conditions

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In an ideal world, when it comes to planting bare root fruit trees and bushes, soil and weather conditions will be perfect, but, of course, in reality, this is rarely the case. We therefore have to manage as best we can as we need to ensure the planting of bare rooted stock is undertaken in what is often the worst period of the year for weather – December to March! So how can we obviate the problems caused by adverse weather conditions? Continue reading →

Apples & Pears: Growing Guide, History & Recipe

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Apples and pears are two of the best loved fruits, and they are probably the easiest fruit trees to grow. This has made them a favourite with gardeners along with the fact that only a handful of varieties are available in shops. Gardeners have a much wider range of cultivars to choose from (there are literally hundreds of known varieties) so there is a world of flavours out there to grow and taste. There are also lots of hidden gems with their origins rooted back in our nation’s rich heritage waiting to be discovered. Continue reading →

Morello cherry will grow well on a north facing wall.

Fruit Trees & Bushes for Problem Places

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Unfortunately many gardeners do not have what they perceive should be ideal growing conditions in their gardens and therefore quite often do not grow anything useful in what might seem to be the most challenging places. This is very unfortunate as almost anywhere in the garden can grow plants well except, perhaps, very dry and very dark places. And from my fruit growing perspective I can advise you that fruit can be grown almost anywhere in your garden other than the two places I have just noted. Continue reading →

Growing Cobnuts & Filberts

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Forget all of the nonsense that you hear about the difficulty of growing nuts – whether it be that they are unreliable in cropping, easily frosted or take a long time to reach bearing ability – and try and find space for a tree or two. Probably the only difficulty that you will encounter is beating the squirrels to the nuts but even if they do sneak off with a few there will be plenty left for you! Continue reading →

Quince-blossom-0900494

Quince & Medlars: Two Unique Fruits

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Quince are one of those fruits which are fairly well known yet not often grown in the garden – possibly because they are not actually fit for eating raw unless your palate is non-existent, as they are extremely bitter and astringent. I contend that quince are well worth growing in the garden but before we go any further I must clear up the difference between the ornamental quince and the quince grown for its fruits. Continue reading →

Cordons are ideal where space is limited. They can be planted as vertical cordons or at a 45 degree angle and trained against a wall, fence or on supporting wires.

The Best Cooking Apples to Grow

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Most countries have a collection of apple cultivars which they cook or eat as they see fit but the British chose to distinguish between those which adorned the tables of sumptuous dinner parties and those which finished in the kitchen for cooking purposes. This has ensured that we now have a rich vein of cooking apples which can be used for apple tarts, apple pies, baked apples etc., and those to be enjoyed especially for their unique flavour and colour. Continue reading →

Embryo figs

How to Grow Figs in the UK

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Contrary to popular belief figs will grow very well in this country and have so for hundreds of years. Although they originate from warmer parts of the world such as Persia and Syria (where they were recorded as long ago as 2900 BC) they can be very long lived in this country even if, on occasion, they may be cut back severely by frosts. Continue reading →

(image for) Pomona Fruits

Summer Pruning Made Easy

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If you are growing restricted forms of top fruit trees – cordons, espaliers, fans, pyramids, stepovers or even bushes – you need to undertake your pruning in the summer to help ensure maximum fruitfulness and vigour as well as for keeping your trees in good shape. Additionally, the removal and shortening of shoots and thereby leaves will allow more light to get the fruit which is essential for late ripening varieties. Continue reading →