Online Catalogue | FAQ's | Questions About Growing Plants | Which soft fruit plants should I grow in my garden?
The types of soil...
The types of soft fruit that could grow well in your garden will depend on your soil type, aspect (sun/shade and shelter from wind), and also on what you would like from your crop of soft fruit. |
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Types of soil
It is best to use a soil testing kit to check the pH of your soil, and treat it accordingly.
Clay Soil (sticky when wet): It is best to plant in raised beds or on a ridge to aid drainage particularly if growing raspberry canes as they will not like water-logged soil.
Sandy Soil (very gritty): Mix in plenty of well rotted compost a few months before planting, and monitor moisture levels carefully.
Peaty Soil (high in organic matter, dark colour): Plant in raised beds or on a ridge if the ground has a tendency to become waterlogged.
Chalky Soil (alkaline, light colour): Can be treated to neutralise, although both Gooseberry bushes and Red/White currant bushes can do okay in alkaline soils.
Silty soil (fine and dark): Ideal for most soft fruits, provided it is deep (blackcurrant bushes) and well drained (raspberry canes).
Loamy Soil (combination: sand, silt and a little clay): The ideal soil. Raspberry canes will still need a raised bed or ridge of the soil is prone to become waterlogged, and blackcurrant bushes will prefer deeper soil.
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Aspect
All soft fruits benefit from good sunlight to aid fruit ripening, although gooseberry bushes can do fine in more shady conditions. A sheltered site is highly recommended for raspberry canes, especially the taller varieties (like Tulameen), and the tall growing blackcurrant bushes (Ben Hope).
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Cropping
We offer a range of varieties of each soft fruit plant, each with slightly different characteristics and cropping times that spread throughout the season. We also offer selections of soft fruit plants, if you would like a full season of fruiting from your strawberry plants or raspberry canes, or a selection of bush fruits. Please see our Special Selections page for more information. |
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| You can also visit our Plant Varieties page for more information about the varieties, |
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Online Catalogue | FAQ's | Questions About Growing Plants | Which soft fruit plants should I grow in my garden?
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