Fruit Growing

Fruit growing is seeing a significant revival, especially as more people than ever are wishing to grow their own food. Although in some gardens the larger tree fruits cannot be accommodated, there are always plenty of varieties, from strawberries in pots to single-stemmed cordon apples, which can be grown in a limited space very successfully.

Bird protection

Already strawberries are being picked and gooseberries, and currants will not be far behind. Both strawberries and redcurrants need immediate protection from birds, even if not turning red. Birds will quite happily strip the green fruits of redcurrants once they have developed, even before the skin shows a hint of pink.

Protecting redcurrant bushes is not always easy. A fine net can be used and thrown over an individual bush, but where there are several close together a fruit cage is really the only answer. Strawberries can be given protection by placing netting over stout stakes spaced strategically along the rows. Drop the net across the top of the stakes and place an empty inverted jam jar over each stake. This traps the net, yet makes for its easy removal.

Not only do birds spoil strawberries, but so can rain splashes. Gritty or muddy fruits are unpalatable. Protection can be given by placing straw beneath the plants. The fruits can then rest on this. If straw is not readily available, there are specially manufactured strawberry mats which are very effective.

Gooseberries are usually resistant to attacks by either birds or insects, except large fruited dessert varieties such as 'Leveller'. These become very sweet and succulent, rather like grapes, and are often damaged by wasps. A fine net curtain thrown over a susceptible bush will reduce the problem. It is rarely necessary to grow gooseberries in a fruit cage.

Aftercare

As soon as strawberries have finished fruiting the net should be removed so that plant growth does not become entangled in it. If the weather is dry when harvesting has been completed and there is no apparent danger, the straw surrounding the plants can be set alight.

A good short sharp blaze will do no harm to the plants and will kill many harmful insect pests and fungal spores. The plants may be defoliated, but providing that the fleshy crown is not damaged they will come to no harm.

Whether you have the courage to set fire to your strawberries or merely rake all the debris from the bed, it is important to tidy it up. Runners will be produced in abundance and form a great tangle if not rigorously removed. Runner production encourages the plant to expend energy that it really ought to conserve, so embryo plants should be cut off as soon as noticed.

With all other soft fruits, as soon as fruiting is over, any weeds should be removed and pruning commenced.

Pruning

Raspberries fruit on year-old wood and so as soon as canes which have borne fruit this year have passed their useful life, they should be removed. The current season’s growth should then be thinned to ensure that only the strongest remains. These shoots are then tied to their supports in readiness for next year’s crop.

Blackcurrants bear fruit in the same manner. However, not only should old fruiting wood be removed, but also weak and crossing shoots as it is important to maintain bushes with an open framework.

Redcurrants and whitecurrants are a different proposition. These fruit on older wood which for the most part is retained, while gooseberries need only be tidied up after fruiting, final pruning being undertaken in the spring just as the buds break into growth.

It is important to only prune tree fruits when they have become completely dormant. This is especially true of plums and cherries that may require sizeable branches removing. If mature wood is cut when the plant is in growth the wound tends to bleed and gum. When pruned during the winter this is avoided, although the routine pruning of stone fruits is always most productive in summer.

Apples and pears already demand winter pruning, although those grown as espaliers or cordons can be summer pruned to advantage as well. Bush, standard and pyramid trees must all have surplus and crossing or rubbing branches removed and lateral shoots taken back by at least one third to encourage sound branch formation and the production of fruiting spurs.

With apples and pears the majority of popular kinds are spur bearing, however, amongst the few that are not are 'Worcester Pearmain' and 'Grenadier'. These produce fruits on lateral shoots and so rather than develop a tight framework of spurred branches, it is important to create a renewable system of laterals for them.