There’s something a little bit special about growing your own fruit. It always seems to taste better somehow, and there’s no great secret to it; growing fruit in your garden is all about finding the right spot and carefully nurturing the plants until they reward you with juicy berries. If you already have a vegetable patch you could allocate a small area to growing some strawberries, or even make them a feature of an ornamental garden.

You’ll find that a lot of fruit trees grow well against a south-facing wall and with a bit of patience you can even train them to grow into various shapes.

Strawberries

You’ll get the best results from growing strawberries if you replace your plants every three years, and always plant new crops in late summer/early autumn. When you replace your plants, don’t plant the new one in exactly the same place, and always plant strawberries in a warm sunny spot with well-drained soil.

Water your strawberries regularly and put strawberry mats or just soil underneath to protect them. You might also need to cover them with netting as they start to appear, unless you want eagle eye garden birds to pinch all the best ones...

 

 

Raspberries

Home grown raspberries are absolutely divine and well worth trying to for yourself. You can go for summer fruiting types which give a short sharp crop all at once, or the longer-lasting autumn fruiting varieties which keep going from high summer until it starts getting colder.

To grow the perfect raspberry you’ll need to find a sunny but sheltered spot in the garden in well-drained soil. Plant dormant raspberry canes in autumn or early winter at the very latest and cut them down to about six inches (15cm) as this will help to create a good root system. Tie them to a support so that they are nice and stable.

Raspberry canes need pruning back in late winter; cut them back down to ground level.

Currants

Black, red, and white currants all fruit in mid-summer. To get the best results you’ll need to plant them in late autumn into a rich soil – if your soil is acidic you’ll need to add lime to it for a decent crop. Once you’ve planted the bushes, prune the branches right back to the lowest bud – this encourages growth.

Protect your currants from spring frosts and also in windy conditions as they can be a little bit delicate. In spring, add a potassium and nitrogen rich fertiliser to boost growth.

With a little planning, you’ll soon be able to sit back and enjoy your summer fruits!

They all need regular pruning to keep fruit yields high. With mature bushes, prune out about a third of it each year. Cut out the oldest wood so that it encourages new vigour resulting in strong new growth which carries fruit the following year.

Synthetic turf – it’s come a long way!

Since it was first used back in the sixties, artificial turf has certainly changed a lot. Technology has made it possible – and desirable - to create good quality, durable artificial grass that looks and feels just like the real thing; with the added benefit of needing no watering and very little maintenance. It’s not just gardeners who are turning to artificial turf for their landscaping either; many athletes now prefer it to the real thing and say it gives a better playing surface than natural grass.

With frequent hosepipe bans a feature of the great British Summer, having an artificial lawn can be a bonus. The trend for no-water grass has been taking off globally, and is expected to continue as people become more aware of conserving water and not wasting resources. Just one square foot of natural grass replaced with turf can save more than 50 gallons of water per year, according to estimates.  A good quality turf can also last from 15-20 years, another factor that works in its favour. Synthetic grass fibres used to only be available in two types; monofilaments or slit-film tape.

Monofilaments are single strands while slit-film fibres are cut from sheets of polymers to a fixed width. This gave it the feel and look of a nylon carpet which was why it wasn’t quite so popular in the mid-twentieth century! These days, artificial turf is crafted from softer polyethylene fibres which make it a much nicer product, suitable for general use in landscaping and sport/play.

The business is growing fast, too, so expect to see more synthetic turf in the future.  Figures from the US alone suggest that in 2014 the synthetic turf industry was worth $1.1 billion with a projected annual revenue growth from 2015-2017 of 13.1 percent, and the demand for synthetic turf is on the increase everywhere, with Europe being one of the biggest markets.

When you’re looking for good quality artificial turf for sporting  surfaces, project, check that your supplier is a member of the Sports and Play Construction Association, SAPCA, is the trade organisation for the UK sports facility construction industry, and high standards in design and construction of synthetic turf pitches. SAPCA members are responsible for most of the synthetic turf pitches laid in the UK, everywhere from parks, community clubs and schools, to professional clubs, and pitches for high-level national and international competition.