Green Fingers: Growing some fruit is a soft touch
You could manage with a few blueberries, up to maybe six plants, for most needs and 10-15 each of raspberries and strawberries, either grown in pots or in the ground.
Anytime Ireland does well in a certain sport, if follows that it gains in popularity the following seasons. It is the same with certain aspects of gardening and while there were mixed results, fruit seemed to do well in most areas of the country, which has led to an increased demand for growing fruit in the garden.
There are a whole range of possible fruiting plants that you can grow in your garden, and the limitations are only on what you like to grow and the space available in your garden.
The shops that sell fruit have usually a huge range available and quite often this is where we get our ideas.
The trouble is, quite a few will not grow in this country due to our climate, while others will need regular spraying to stay free of pests and diseases.
The best way is to check out what is on offer in the garden centres, talk to the staff but be specific that you want trouble-free plants, and then decide on your selection, which can be carried out over a period of time.
The range of possible fruiting plants can be extended by growing them under some clear cover, such as a tunnel, glasshouse, car port or a make shift construction. Apricots, nectarines and peaches are very successful when grown under these conditions and can be trained into a shape that will fit within the allotted space. Due to recent breeding programmes, dwarf growing types are now available, which might not give the 80-100 fruits from larger plants, but probably 20-30, which is probably enough to manage before a surplus kicks in.
With a few exceptions, all we might want out of our fruit plants is to browse over the fruit as they mature and enjoy that unique sweet taste that only comes from picking and eating fruit fresh from the plant.
If that is the plan then go for small numbers of a variety of plants that will satisfy your needs, providing you with some fruit from June until early winter.
For any fruit that you want a larger quantity of, the solution is to grow more of them in a semi-serious way, and what comes to mind are blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. You could manage with a few blueberries, up to maybe six plants, for most needs and 10-15 each of raspberries and strawberries, either grown in pots or in the ground. A single blackcurrant and gooseberry will give decent returns for fresh eating but add additional plants if you want to use them in jams and puddings.
It would be great if the plant breeders would slow down a bit and not bombard the gardeners with an ever-expanding range of new fruit. I feel there are too many available far too soon, without adequate trials. All we have to go on is the description provided by the breeder, who is there to promote the product and will not highlight any defects. Plants do need long trials before being offloaded onto an unsuspecting public, who should not have to go through this process, as failures will only lead to negativity and a sense of disillusionment with growing fruit for themselves.
Continue to harvest vegetables as and when you need them for immediate use, and make the most of them as some are coming to an end in the next few weeks.
Crops in tunnels with tomatoes and other indoor edibles, such as peppers, are still growing strong but keep the atmosphere as dry as possible as rot can appear suddenly and spoil the crop.
If you have any comments or queries you are welcome to share them with me on 051 384273 or orchardstowngardencentre@hotmail.com and if of general interest I will include it in a future article.
