Soft fruit- where should I buy the plants?

squishyclaire

I want to plant some soft fruits in my garden. The question I have is where do I start to have a go at growing these. Do they need to go near the fence, in the beds and what is easy to grow. I am a real novice.

Also where should I buy them. I bought two gooseberry bushes from the garden centre and nearle fell over at the price (£20). I bought a gooseberry bush from the pound shop but it seemed to be a dead twig, and, despite my best efforts it is now just a twig in the ground.

Any advice?

[Deleted User]

I always get my soft fruit plants and bushes, from ken muir. Completely reliable growers with wonderful customer service. I have been elsewhere in the past but turned to KM on recommendation and would never go anywhere else now

valk_scot

Pot grown fruit bushes from the garden centre are usually pretty foolproof, but cost ££ as you say. Potted can mean dug up from the ground, roots trimmed then shoved in a decorative pot, usually for the supermarket type garden sections. These are usually less sucessful.

You can also get bare rooted bushes and trees to plant out in the dormant season and with these you get what you pay for...the good mail order companies like Ken Muir usually supply far more sucessful plants than you'll buy at the £££ shops. A small exception to this is the Lidl/Aldi chains, where they get plants in for a very short time window. These are usually better than plants that sit around in a hot shop for several weeks, if not months.

You can also grow your own by scrounging cuttings from neighbours etc, and these can be very sucessful. I'd take two cuttings for every plant desired though, just to make sure.

As with almost all plants they should go in fertile soil with good drainage, sun for at least part if not most of the day. Most soft fruit from bushes is much of a muchness to grow, I think. Thornless gooseberries are easier to pick and prune!

squishyclaire

Thanks for your help on this. How do I go about taking cuttings and what season do I take them in? From what i understand in your email Aldi etc will sell the plants off season?

ladylouise62

I've had succesful stuff from the pound shops, BUT I bought them when they first appeared in the shop so weren't hanging around for too long. My first one that been there for maybe a decade is just about to be replaced, but has given years of redcurrants despite being in half shade in a spot by the wall that is very narrow (6 inches) and not much deeper. Last year I bought a Blackcurrant from them that is only in a pot due to a delay, and it gave me a punnet's worth even then (although I lost them all due to me stupidly letting them get too wet - my fault)
Of course, the good thing with them is that even if you buy 2 for every one you require, it will only be £2 per plant.. much cheaper than some places - it all depend upon how tight your money is.

cootambear

lidl/aldi are cheap as chips

wait till autumn though - not just for them, dont plant now

Bunnygirl

I brought some 3 year old currants a mix of red white and black from ebay. It was £13.99 for 4 plants plus £5.99 postage so £5.00 each they even had currants on them very pleased. my local garden centre wanted £12 for a 3 year old bush. But i must really stop buying them I now have 8 just need to find a pink currant now.

They do sell other soft fruit I got some yellow raspberry at the same time. And postage is capped at £5.99. Just search Mixed Currants Selection on ebay.

peter_the_piper

Try your local, family nursery. They will likely have grown them and are probably cheaper. Don't forget that if plants don't sell at a garden centre then they are binned, at a nursery they would probably be potted up for next year, so in effect you are paying for all the thrown away plants.

shirlls

I got raspberry, blackberry and gooseberry canes from Aldi or Lidl (can't rembember which) about 3 years ago. There were three canes, one of each, for about £3 and I bought 3 lots. I crammed them all into a bed about 2 foot by 8 foot, which isn't sheltered from wind and gets evening sunshine. All I do is cut the canes down a bit before the winter so that heavy snow doesn't break them, then in spring I prune them some more. I get tons of fruit, enough to give to neighbours. I think Aldi and Lidl plants are really good value.

poppysarah

poundshop, aldi, lidl, morrisson.

(after you've asked on freecycle and the neighbours)

elisaves

well, it depends how long you want to wait for a good crop, the cheap fruit bushes are normally very young so you have to wait a few years before they will crop, happened to my bluberry, it was cheap but got 3 years to have a bowlefull of crop