Help me with a fruitful garden, please

[Feral007]

Well between the farm expenses and the daughters teeth I'm not so flush with money atm. So instead of getting as many fruit trees/bushes in as possible now, I will have to prioritise.

So help me out with your opinions.

We love fruit. Most of it really except figs - can't like them.

We love berries and currants. Also stone fruit.

We have loads of room.......90 acres, but obviously not planting all that up, but a largish area out the back that we plan to be a fruit and nut forest.


So far we have 2 apple trees near the house. Granny Smith and Pink Lady. Didn't do well last year, but planning for better this year.

A jostaberry - which I am planning to move out the back. I did want to get some more of these, but I'm wondering if I might take some cuttings of it? I don't think it's on rootstock?

I have two plum trees which I put in last year but plan to move this weekend.

And a mulbery tree ditto moving. I wanted to put them together so they would offer better protection from the wind etc.

Out the back earlier this winter I planted (well my son did) two Cox's Orange Pippin apple trees and two peach/nectarine multigraft dwarf trees.
I don't really need dwarf trees, but these multigrafts seem only to come on dwarf stock.

I was planning on getting as many currants, raspberries and other berries as possible. Due to the price of them locally (and add $60 petrol costs to drive to next built up area) I can't get too many.
What would you recommend as the most prolific? The raspberries I've seen are summer fruiting ones, which I like the sound of (coming into spring as we are).
How soon could I take cuttings of the raspberries if I bought a couple now?
There are loganberries, tayberries and some other berry at the local nursery.

I would like the most prolific plants first, and to also get the longest period of production to minimise our fruit bills. Having given birth to 3 fruit bats it's expensive.

I have also bought two grape vines to go up and around the deck on the house so hoping they will fruit this season as well. Am I expecting too much?

[rustylady]

Currants (red, white and black) are really easy to propogate so go for maybe two of each to start with. Obviously they will be small to start with so you'll probably need to let them grow for a season before you prune them. On the other hand, if they have longish branches you could prune one or two of these when you plant them. Simply stick the pruned branches into a slit trench in the ground, keep well watered and they should root.

Raspberries spread like mad if they are happy so you'll soon increase your stock.

Loganberries are sour and only really good for making pies or jam.

How about strawberries? They increase from runners (four or more from each plant)

[DuncanM]

Have you considered your own grafting? In the UK where we like our Olympic gold medals ;-) ) you can buy a rootstock for a few £s, and graft existing trees you have on to it. Obviously this wouldn't increase your variety, nor a quick solution but certainly a cheap one for 5+ years time.

Also you could try planting apple seeds from home grown or super market apples, I know I'd do that with the amount of space you have! Keep them in a separate area, if any produce decent trees then hey presto, but of not at least you'll have some very nice smelling firewood or to smoke with.

[Farmer_Gyles]

loganberries are sour when they are raspberry red colour, but they're not properly ripe until they turn dark purple and then they're lovely - and they make great jams and wines
a single loganberry cane can multiply and spread canes 15ft or more each side - the canes will need good support each side so think about using a wall or sturdy fence

there are summer and autumn raspberries - this can prolong the harvesting season - personally i would prefer to pick more in a shorter season and freeze them - raspberry wine is very nice!

i don't know about taking cuttings from raspberries - a single cane in the ground will multiply - my local garden centre sells 5 canes tied together in a pot - they need separating and planting out about 2ft apart - i did this a few years ago and have canes popping out all over the place - i pull up about 50 baby canes every year

gooseberries - i always get a good harvest from them - they come in red, yellow and green - i think reds are best in crumbles etc, they all make good jams - hoping they also make good wine (got some brewing, more to make) - find a thornless variety if you can because they'll rip you to shreds when picking

rhubarb - a single crown will grow and grow and will need dividing over the years - that means more free plants - rhubarb is great in crumbles, jams and i'll find out soon if it's any good for wine - i don't think you can ever have enough rhubarb - find a variety with large fat stalks, plant it, leave it alone for a year, harvest the following year

[zazen999]

I'd invest in one sample of a few varieties that grow well in your area; give them a year and use each pruning as a cutting and just keep increasing stock that way.

I took gooseberry cuttings from spring prunings this year and yesterday day over 20 new seedlings that my students potted up and took away with them to grow at home.

[veggiechicken]

Jostaberries grow like weeds - take your cuttings (prunings actually) and jab them in the ground, quite deeply. Next year, hey presto, another bush. I use the same "method" with all my fruit bushes, apart from the cane fruits like raspberries. Easy -peasy

[Loudbarker1]

I agree with every one that, if you are happy to wait, taking layers/cuttings/sports from gooseberries/red, white, pink and black currents and bramble fruit and rasberries is the way forward.

I'm accumulating plants from the free/cheap offers from the various mags. So far I have acquired 5 blueberries (mixed varieties), 1 blackcurrent (Titannia) 2 redcurrents (Rovada and Jonkheer van Tets) 2 tayberries, a rose current (Gloire de Sablon) and 1 blackberry (can't remember variety at the moment) and a Plum (Victoria). One mag is offering Redcurrent (Juniper) and blackcurrent (Ben Sarek) this month for the cost of postage- so I'm off to get those, and GYO has a Brown Turkey Fig - am in two minds about whether I really want one).

The drawback is that you can't chose the varieties, but so far I'm happy enough. The plants have all come from reputable suppliers and are disease free, so I should be able to mulitply them up (experiments have already started!)

If you take cuttings etc, do take care to avoid diseased plants: currents especially get infected with virus and you need to avoid that at all costs.

[Feral007]

Thanks everyone. I'm off tomorrow to collect some bulby thing (white flower, can't kill it with a spade or a drought) as a neighbours mother is offloading some. I think I might ask if she has any fruit bushes and if I could have some cuttings if she hasn't pruned them all earlier.

Ideally I'd like 60 fully grown and fruiting plants - right now! But it's not going to happen. But I don't want to miss out on plants that I could have propagated and didn't.

Thanks for all the tips. And yes, I will be freezing lots I hope.

I am going to put in seeds for alpine strawberries (lots and lots) and also cape gooseberry.
I'm just impatient and was hoping to get more of a head start this winter.

[Nicos]

How about kiwi fruit?

[FB.]

Hi Feral

I thought that you once mentioned that your soil was droughty and infertile - or am I getting confused with someone else?

Fruit plants of today, in general, will not grow well in dry infertile soils.

If your soil is indeed droughty, you will struggle with most fruits unless you improve soil moisture retention and water regularly.......or unless you can find fruit trees on vigorous rootstocks which can cope with poor dry soil.

Part-shaded areas can be helpful to keep the soil cooler and damper, but within about 1ft of the base of walls (or near roof overhangs) tends to be very dry.

Soil moisture can also be retained by laying out an area of slabs, but every second slab has a plant in its place. The water tends to run off the slabs towards the plants, and the slabs keep the ground cooler and damper underneath so that the plant roots can find more water. The slabs also make it easier to move around among the plants.

The slabs are eay to take up and rearrange if you want to try a different layout of the plants.

[Llamas]

....Having given birth to 3 fruit bats it's expensive.

My mother had a similar situation on her hands when we were little 'uns. Fortunatly, she could turn us out and let us forage for blackberries, wild grapes and blueberries ourselves. Had to watch out for alligators and bears tho (S. Georgia)

[Feral007]

My mother had a similar situation on her hands when we were little 'uns. Fortunatly, she could turn us out and let us forage for blackberries, wild grapes and blueberries ourselves. Had to watch out for alligators and bears tho (S. Georgia)

Yes, well it's more the tiger and brown snakes here Plus all blackberries growing wild will have been spray with glyphosate or something worse.

FB - yes the ground is pretty nasty and between the heat and the cold an interesting climate.
We grew in a no dig garden last year and had great success with vege's so we are doing semi-dig for the fruit things.
Small hole in the ground and raised up with hay for mulch and no dig section.
Planning on having larger trees to shade the smaller etc. And having ground covers and hay mulch between all.
I figure since they can't seem to kill the blackberry plants with anything they have already, that I will be ok with some of them anyway.

We just try to put things in in groups and use the no dig as it enriches the soil under it as it breaks down, and it seems to be working so far. This year I should be able to hit them with the liquid manures as well. Just trying to find enough cheap hay as well.

[Feral007]

I diid want a kiwifruit -especially after reading was it VC who couldn't keep hers under control? Apparently her jostaberry bush is the same!

My jostaberry has finally made a small but respectable size after about 5 yrs? So I'm pretty sure the kiwifruit will be a stunty little thing too.

Those who grow kiwifruit, do you need to support them? I was hoping to use one as a bit of a shade in the backyard, but saw somewhere else that it will need support and shade itself? Doesn't seem like the terrorist plant that VC describes. I'm also hoping that this is not a plant that is only sold bare rooted in winter.

I did put in two asparagus and two rhubarb crowns last year, might go find them and see if they are still ok. I'm planning to put the rhubarb and asparagus in the herb garden this year so the pumpkin vines don't molest them again.

The dogs knocked a branch off the jostaberry yesterday so will throw that in the ground and see what comes of it. Might get two raspberry plants this w/e as well.
There seems to be a lot of currants still in the nursery shop, I'm wondering if they are still there when the spring plants come in will they be selling them cheaper?
I just want to start planting!

[da_ra]

Hi there, I have 2 little apricot trees from the sweetest tree in my granny's garden. They don't like the limitations of the pots, so I would be happy to give them to you for free to plant in the open field! I love these little babies and just want the best for them. They are really easy and very happy to grow true from stone. PM me if interested

[zazen999]

Feral is in Australia da_ra.