Good enough to eat

●● Blackberries

These delicious fruits come into their own in late summer and are easy to grow, so there’s no reason to be buying expensive supermarket punnets. They prefer moisture retentive but freedraining soil with the addition of compost prior to planting.

They do best in a sunny sheltered site and are self-fertile, so you’ll only need to buy one variety.

Their sprawling habit makes them suitable to grow as hedges or to grow up arches or walls.

Many types are vigorous and will need at least 3.75m (12ft) between plants when trained against a wall.

The vigorous types will need sturdy supports, l use fence posts with horizontal wires.

Tie in the shoots of newly-planted canes then, once they reach their first winter, cut back all sideshoots produced on the main canes to 5cm (2in). Good varieties include ‘Fantasia’ and the thornless ‘Loch Ness’.