Fruit bushes - what can I grow with my soil?

[jnkimjones]

I have sandy/normal soil. Defiantly not acid!

I would like to grow some fruit bushes (I already has raspberries)

Any ideas and advice is greatly welcome.

[Two_Sheds]

We grow blackberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants etc very successfully on a soil like yours. It's only really blueberries that need an ericaceous soil

[jnkimjones]

Ohhhh......wonderful! Thanks!

Any ideas of the best varieties?

[FB.]

Whereabouts in the UK are you? Location can make a big difference on the ability of plants to thrive and ripen properly - or how you might go about growing a particular plant in your plot.
If your region is well-known for a certain type of fruit or veg, then you'll probably get good results with those.

Personally, I'm happy to give anything a go. I have hot, dry, shallow, sandy soil in a low-rainfall area. It doesn't come much worse than mine - but I manage.
I have apples, pears, plums, blueberries, whitecurrants, strawberries, blackberries, grapes and hazels. We also grow some of our veg.
Water butts (five butts with about 1000litres total capacity) are a lifesaver for our plants during the summer.

My plum (SJA rootstock) is planted in semi-shade of a 6ft fence, with alpine strawberries surrounding the tree, to keep more shade and moisture around the roots. Plums hate dry soil. My Victoria is getting on for ten years old but is only about 5-6ft height/spread. It only grows a few inches per year but fruits prolifically every year.

My blueberries are planted near a gutter "soakaway" in partial shade. The soil remains heavy and damp most of the year - which blueberries need. They produce good crops of blueberries, they grow slowly but appear healthy.

My pears (QA rootstock) are planted under grass, with a low fence (2ft) shading their roots, which seems to help with moisture retention. Pears are also sensitive to dry soil.

My apples are in the sunnier and drier parts of the garden. Many of my apples are only bushes, but are on strong (MM111) or very strong (M25) rootstocks because in mid-summer, there is no moisture whatsoever in the ground - until you get to 2-3ft depth. Dwarf roots don't usually get that far down - unless grafted with a strong-growing variety (e.g. Bramley/Blenheim). Most plants in my area grow themselves oversized root systems because of the summer droughts. In normal areas, a plant has about 1/3 root and 2/3 above ground. In my area, it's the opposite!

The side of my house that faces South-ish grows a Black Hamburg grape vine - they grow and ripen just fine.

My hazels grow as a screen to our semi-shaded veg plot (semi-shade helps retain more moisture and we get a long growing season, so partial shade is OK here). The hazels are interplanted with whitecurrants.
Hazels will grow like weeds almost anywhere - poor soil, dry soil, moist soil, sun, partial shade, they don't care! I prune the vigorous shoots of my hazels (prune very hard) in mid-July and they respond by producing flower and catkin buds for the next season's crop. Without the prune, they would be out of control in 2-3 seasons. With the hard (shock) prune, they produce a bucketful of nuts.

My blackberries grow on the North side of the house in a horrible bit of soil full of builders rubble - against a fence (for support). They only get a couple of hours sun per day, but they do OK.

[jnkimjones]

well, I live in south wales close to the severn bridge. Weather tends to wet....but it qets its share of sunlight.

You know your stuff!!! Any bugs I need to be aware of when planting? I've had major issues with the ......butterflies!!!

[Two_Sheds]

Any bugs I need to be aware of when planting?

Oh yes.
Raspberries, blackberries = beetle maggots
Redcurrants, gooseberries = sawfly caterpillars
Blackcurrants = blackbirds

and probably a few more.

[FB.]

Hmmm....bugs.

I let nature take it's course. I lose perhaps 1/3 of my fruits or veg to bugs, birds or fungus, but that's not too bad, considering that I am pesticide-free.
I take care to grow varieties that have good resistance to the major problems that I expect to encouter. Different parts of the UK will encouter different pests/diseases, due to climate variation.