Garden designer Kirsty McLean’s here with the pick of the crop…
Fruit you’ve grown yourself not only tastes incredibly delicious, but it also means you know what process your fruit has gone through and whether it’s been subjected to man-made pesticides and fertilisers or is completely organic. Supermarket fruits (if not locally supplied) have often travelled halfway across the globe or been in storage for months, whereas your home grown produce goes from plant to plate in a matter of moments.
Growing fruit in the northeast of Scotland is very much about soil preparation and position. Finding a spot that provides shelter, heat and sunlight, and is located away from frost-pockets provides the best start. You can grow fruit in the ground, raised beds or containers.
Preparation is key. For best results start with a well-drained fertile soil enriched with lots of organic matter, manure, household compost, etc., on a clean, weed-free patch, bed or container, to give your crop the best start. If you are gardening in containers, the best medium to fill them with is a combination, such as John Innes compost, topsoil, well-rotted farmyard manure and composted bark combined. Beware of using peat-free compost alone as many brands are not suitable for all crops, mix it up!
It takes at least a year to get a decent crop on currants, raspberries, brambles and other soft fruit, two to five years for tree fruit such as apples and pears which will require an element of pruning and training. Easier fruits such as rhubarb, strawberries, and gooseberries are good to start with, but you can progress quickly to raspberries and blackberries. You’ll need to provide protection from wind/weather, insects and birds. If you have a larger space, it might be worth constructing a netted enclosure but if you’re growing space is small, then consider horticultural mesh or fleece. These can be bought on the roll and supported using garden hoops.
Fruiting trees are best bought as bare rooted plants (no soil around their roots) during what are called ‘dormant’ months, from November to end of March.
Apples are probably the most successful of the fruiting trees here. If space is an issue, there are patio trees available or you could grow them as espaliers or cordons. You can find lots of videos and ideas about growing espaliers or cordons online. To produce fruit, most apples need their flowers to be pollinated by insects carrying pollen from a different variety growing nearby. Even those that are partially self-fertile do better with a partner. Apples are grafted on a variety of rootstocks such as M26 which produces a vigorous but compact tree, suitable for smaller gardens. It is important to note, these rootstocks do not have a strong root system and require permanent staking. Often, online shopping offers up varieties that will not grow well up here because we do not have the heat to support these. Instead, visit your local nursery to find varieties that are suited to your geographical location and garden conditions. Their local knowledge is invaluable!
Everyone gets into a bit of a tizz about pruning. When the trees are young, light pruning is done to create an open-centred, ‘goblet’ shaped head on the tree. Subsequent pruning is just to keep the tree in about and in shape. Varieties such as M26 just need light pruning, which can be done during the dormant season and preferably during dry, frost-free weather. If you are doing cordons or espalier, I recommend ‘The Pruner’s Handbook’ by John Malins, it is simple, graphic and takes the mystery out of it all or go to
www.rhs.org.uk/fruit/apples/winter-pruning