PERFECT FRUIT FOR SMALL GARDENS
think you don’t have room to grow fruit? Kris Collins offers space-saving solutions for patio fruit production
Kris Collins offers smart solutions for patio growing
Not many gardens have space for a dedicated fruit garden, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for home-grown fruit. Soft fruit breeders have developed dwarf varieties in recent years, often removing thorns and producing prettier flowers and fruit along the way.
I’ve been picking good crops from my four dwarf Raspberry ‘Ruby Beauty’ plants this year and have a freezer drawer full of fruit ready for jam. Launched only three years ago, this first in container raspberries from thompson & Morgan now has a sister in ‘Ruby Falls,’ the first ever trailing basket raspberry.
While mentioning baskets, Mr Fothergill’s now supplies Blackberry ‘Black Cascade,’ the first compact, thornless trailing variety for containers.
Meanwhile, dwarf Mulberry ‘Charlotte Russe’ launched by Suttons, has gone down a storm, scooping RHS Chelsea Flower Show Plant of the Year 2017.
Dwarf rootstocks
In the past, gardeners have used pruning and grafting techniques to keep top fruit trees to size. I won’t bog you down with details of complicated fan and espalier training, but single stem cordon trees are worth a mention, as they’re a great introduction to apple, plum, pear and cherry-growing.
It really is an easy growing style, and set on dwarf rootstocks, cordons thrive in pots, yielding up to 10kg of fruit once mature. they are simply cut back in latesummer, reducing all new shoots to just three leaves. Congested growth and older, unproductive shoots are then removed in winter.
If you are gardening in a small space or simply want to grow something a little different to experience the pleasure of home-grown fruit, try my top patio picks for size – see opposite.
“Breeders have developed dwarf fruit varieties”