Everything you need to know about growing and enjoying the UK's most popular berries.
Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries are the berries most UK gardens grow first, and this is where I cover varieties, pests and getting a decent yield from each one. New to it all? The seasonal calendar is a good companion while you plan.
Alpine strawberries taste intensely sweet and deeply aromatic, with notes of rose, pineapple, and something oddly close to bubblegum — the opposite of anything...
Read article →Raspberries come in gold, amber, pale yellow, deep purple and true jet black, and each colour brings a noticeably different flavour. Most British gardens only...
Read article →Pink Lemonade is a real blueberry variety whose fully ripe berries stay pink rather than turning blue. It is a rabbiteye hybrid (Vaccinium ashei) developed by...
Read article →Imagine a small evergreen shrub that produces berries tasting of wild strawberries, was reportedly a favourite of Queen Victoria, and settles happily into a...
Read article →Blueberries grow well across most of the UK. They originate from North America, where the climate closely resembles ours — cool winters, mild summers, reliable...
Read article →Raspberries grow well across most of the UK and, once established, a healthy cane patch crops reliably for a decade or more. The main thing to understand...
Read article →Strawberries grow well across the UK and will fruit reliably in a sunny border, a raised bed, or a container on a patio. The main decisions are which variety...
Read article →Autumn-fruiting raspberries — a single row can crop for six to eight weeks and needs less structural support than summer varieties.
Yes, but only in a container of ericaceous compost — planted straight into neutral or alkaline garden soil, they'll struggle and eventually fail.
Strawberries can fruit the same year; raspberries and blackcurrants usually need a full year to establish before a proper first crop.
