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Fruit bushes finally in the ground

Posted by on Monday 14 February 2011 in growing | 4 comments

I spent what felt like all Saturday but was actually just four hours in the garden – it seems I’ve lost some stamina over the winter! It was hard work and I ached in the evening but I finally got all our fruit bushes in the ground. Well, fruit sticks which will hopefully one day become bushes. These are, respectively, one of the raspberries (Tulameen) and one of the redcurrants (Jonkheer Van Tets) that I bought as part of a super-cheap deal from Aldi last week.

The four blackcurrants look a little more alive – not just bare sticks — probably a sign I should have planted them out a few weeks ago…

I had two pairs of blackcurrant bushes – two from the Aldi batch, two from elsewhere – and there was a very clear difference between the two — even though the other ones were still cheap, their roots looked a lot more established. I guess I’ll have to see if that makes a difference in the long run. (For my future reference, they’re planted Ben Nevis, Ben Lomond, Ben Lomond, Ben Nevis – with the Ben Lomonds from Aldi.)

I also *finally* potted on the lingonberry (Ida) and cranberry (Pilgrim) bushes that arrived in the middle of the snow a month ago.

They were in ok-sized pots anyway so I just left them as they were in the greenhouse while it was cold outside. Now they’ve finally got room to stretch.

So that’s eight fruit bushes in the ground, and two in containers. Fruit-wise, we’ve also got eight trees planted this year, with a spot prepared for my cherry tree (which will hopefully arrive soon), and my strawberry runners seem to be going ok too. I think that’ll be all the fruit we’ll go with this year – now to concentrate on veg!

What fruit are you growing this year? Any new additions to the garden/plot?

4 Comments

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  1. sara

    Blimey you have been busy..we are planning to get a peach tree and i desperately would love to have an plum tree..but oh says they attract wasps and he is worried about the tots being stung..fair enough..my blueberry bush is doing great little buds forming and so are the other berry bushes..if i had the room i would love a whole orchard of fruit trees..as it is i have 3 apple,1 pear,1 cherry,2 hazelnuts..at the allotments we have a gazillion strawberry plants also a blackberry bush,loganberry,tayberry and the raspberries that seem to be neverending…plus 4 of the biggest gooseberry bushes you have ever seen..hubby is going to have a go at melons this year the sort you grow in the greenhouse..that should be interesting..hopefully it will grow..would be nice to have a fresh melon on those hot summer days..lovely…

    happy fruit growing lets all hope they blossom and bloom and produce more fruit than we know what to do with..
    sara

  2. Taphophile

    We were given some thornless blackberry canes last month. I’ve chopped them back and put them in pots. I’ve had strike on one and still have hope for the other. They aren’t going in the ground, though, as they’d take over. I’ve got some larger pots ready for them in the autumn.

  3. Monkey

    I have a small section on the city fringe, so my fruit trees and bushes can only make it in pots! I didn’t have such a successful year – maybe 20 strawberries, no tayberries or raspberries, but everyone (and the interweb, so it must be true) tells me they crop better in the second year. As of this weekend, I also have a feijoa tree in a large pot out the front.

    I’d dearly love a pinenut bush, I keep fondling one inappropriately each time I’m at the garden centre. When I finally get my out of town paradise, that’s the first thing I’m planting.

    Good luck for your crops! Growing veges gives me more of an instant satisfaction, but growing fruit makes me feel… like a real gardener.

  4. louisa

    sara: cor, lots of fruit! I’d love hazelnuts but there isn’t enough room really and the local squirrel population would steal them all anyway – although as I’m typing this, (admittedly toothless) Mr Boron is chasing one of them up the elderberry tree so maybe he’ll defend them…!

    Taphophile: I wish the blackberries bushes here were thornless – good idea keeping them in pots though, they’re *everywhere* around here.

    Monkey: I’ve never heard of feijoas before – they sound very interesting. I agree with the “real gardener” thing – I think it’s because they’re a longer term thing, rather than just flash-in-the-pan veg.

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