Rob Smith gets colourful with his fruit planting!
When‘s a blueberry not a blueberry? When it’s a ‘Yelloberry Blue’!
Even though we’re well into November, there’s still the odd sunny day where it’s actually a joy to be working in the garden. I’ve recently cleared an area behind my greenhouse and have decided to turn it into a fruit area, with small fruit trees and different types of berries. I always like to grow a few things that are expensive to buy or difficult to find in the shops; it’s one of the bonuses of growing your own.
As my soil is pure clay and neutral, I’ve created a few mini raised planters to grow blueberries in. This is because you need acidic soil to grow them with any success. I find that 70 per cent ericaceous compost and 30 per cent well-rotted manure works well for blueberries, and I also throw in a handful of blood, fish and bone as a slow- release fertiliser. By growing blueberries in containers or pots, you can give them the growing conditions they need, but be sure to water your plants well once they’re growing as containers can dry out quickly if it’s sunny or windy. The easiest way to avoid this problem is by mulching with a thick, 10cm (4in) layer of manure. This should help keep the water in the container for longer and help stop weed germination.
I wanted a couple of different blueberries, as it’s better to plant two or three varieties to ensure pollination and biggersized fruit. I’ve planted a heavy-cropping variety called ‘Brigitta Blue’, which produces up to 4-6kg (9-13lb) of very large berries from one bush. It has dark green foliage, growing to around 1-1.2m (3¼-4ft) tall and should crop in August and September. The other one I’m growing is a new yellow-leaved variety called ‘Yelloberry Blue’. It has pale green-yellow leaves, which are tinged in red, making it a very attractive plant. It should give a heavy crop of medium-sized blueberries in July. They grow to the same size, so should look great next to each other in the new fruit section of the garden. Both varieties are available as large plants from www.lubera.co.uk.