Easy pickings from a bountiful harvest

How productive is your back garden? Have you toyed with the idea of getting some return from your patch of dirt but reluctantly decided you just don’t have the time or energy, or that the area is too small to make it worthwhile?

 Think again: fruit bushes are easy to maintain, and just a few plants will have you wondering which of your friends will take the excess fruit off your hands at the end of the season.

 Fruits such as redcurrants, blackcurrants, gooseberries and raspberries are ridiculously easy to cultivate. You can even put currant varieties in pots if you are really stuck for space.

 Whereas some of the hard fruit varieties such as peaches, apples and pears can be badly damaged or even wiped out by a late frost while they are in bloom, the soft fruits don’t seem to mind so much if the weather turns ugly at their flowering times – and once they have settled in they will produce in abundance.

 So what should you do to help them along? A site which has some sun during the day will certainly increase the crop yield and assist the fruit to ripen, but full sun is not essential. A good rich soil is another plus, especially with raspberries if you intend they should produce good crops year after year.

 Late winter is a good time for plantings and it’s worth taking a little trouble preparing the area with a thorough weeding and fertilising, because once in, you want these bushes to serve you for a long time.

Currants and gooseberries can be planted together in a row because they grow to roughly the same size and at the same rate. They should be spaced at about 1.5metres, and will, in time, form an attractive informal hedge. Raspberries can be planted closer, say between 35cm and 45cm and will eventually grow into a dense thicket.

Aftercare involves a certain amount of pruning – consult a local gardening expert or buy some literature on the subject to ensure the best harvest.

An HIA landscaper or garden designer will be happy to advise on the layout of your domestic market garden.

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