Fruit next to a fence ... exposed edge of allotment

[wbmkk]

My new allotment is on the edge of the site, with the east side next to the fence.

I fancy adding some raspberries or blackberries to provide some fruit and in due time act as a sort of wind break. The wind isn't extreme, but I may as well try and keep some wind off the plot.

I'm thinking about raspberries of blackberries ... just leaving the plants to their own devices ... rather than carrying out any fancy pruning. Of the two, which would be the better bet please ?

Or is there a better alternative

[WendyC]

Both are good choices but you will need to prune them, fancy or otherwise. It is only a case of cutting out the fruited stems about this time of year. Otherwise you will have a tangled patch where the fruit will be difficult to pick as both can be thorny. Can you tie them into the fence or put up a wire along the fence to tie them to?

[rustylady]

Raspberries are easier to look after than blackberries.

[veggiechicken]

Blackberries need more support than raspberries - they can be freestanding (if a bit floppy!!)

[Bigmallly]

If you are wanting a permanent Raspberry fence, I would go for a summer variety as autumn ones get cut to ground level whereas summer ones you just tie in the new growth & cut out the old if that makes sense.

[Martin H]

Conversely, for raspberries I'd go for autumn varieties and only cut half of the stems down in the winter.

[veggiechicken]

..........and I'd go for a mixture of summer and autumn because I like variety

[Two_Sheds]

leaving the plants to their own devices ... rather than carrying out any fancy pruning.

Blackberries really need to be trained along a fence, or post-and-wires. If you leave them unpruned they will become an impenetrable thicket, and you'll only be able to reach the fruits right at the front

If you are wanting a permanent Raspberry fence, I would go for a summer variety

just to be contrary, I'm going to say go for autumn variety, because summer ones get raspberry beetle maggots.
My autumn raspberry fedge is a good little windbreaker from spring to February. In late Feb I cut all the stems down to the ground, then they throw up new growth which fruits from July onwards



Whatever you do decide on, don't plant it right on the boundary line, plant it at least 2' away, to allow for sideways growth

[wbmkk]

Thank you for all the interesting replies

Yes, summer raspberries would provide a better, long term wind break ... but I suppose in the winter, if I cut down autumn rasps, there would be nothing much in the ground anyway ... so if it does blow, who cares !

I might even try both summer and autumn rasps .. with the autumn ones running along the side of my allotment.

[Feral007]

That's what I like about this place. You ask a question this or that?

And get so many replies that in the end you decide to get more than you first thought about

[veggiechicken]

I think the only thing we agreed on (more or less) was to grow rassers, not blackies

[Two_Sheds]

I suppose in the winter, ...there would be nothing much in the ground anyway ... so if it does blow, who cares

Autumn rasps don't need to be cut down until late Feb.

Topsoil is lost to winter rains & gales, so it really does pay you to protect the soil at all times. Having a protective mulch is the easiest way, whether that is a green manure, a crop or a layer of cardboard

Whatever, you shouldn't have bare brown earth