HOWZAT

AFTERCARE

Newly planted raspberry canes should be cut back to a bud about 30cm (12in) above the ground in March. Staking is a must – the easiest way is to sink a couple of tall, stout posts at each end of the row. Use sturdy wire to contain the canes as they grow up through the summer. Top newly planted blackberry plants at about 30cm (12in). In summer, as the new shoots appear, train them along horizontal wires fixed to a shed, wall or fence. In the second summer after planting, fruit will appear on the first year’s stems and new shoots will spring up from the base. These can be bundled together and trained through the centre of the plant until fruiting has finished. In the autumn, after fruiting, the canes are cut down to the ground and these middle shoots are trained in their place.

Experts advise cutting all shoots of blackcurrant bushes back to 5cm (2in) above the ground after planting to make the growth stronger, but I must confess I didn’t with mine, as I wanted fruit straight away. After a couple of years, prune out about a third of tangled and weak stems every winter. White and redcurrants and gooseberries are left unpruned after planting, and then pruned to keep them in an open, upright-goblet shape.

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Raspberries ‘Glen Ample’ – heavy, early crops; ‘Autumn Bliss’ – fab flavour and good crops.

Blackberries ‘Oregon Thornless’ – very attractive cut leaves and good crops; ‘Loch Ness’ – huge fruits and a big cropper.

Gooseberries ‘Leveller’ – good flavour and heavy cropping, but needs fertile soil; ‘Pax’ – virtually spineless, large red fruits.

Whitecurrants ‘Versailles’ – an attractive, general-purpose variety.

Redcurrants ‘Redstart’ – British-bred and prolific cropper; ‘Red Lake’ – reliable with large juicy fruit.

Blackcurrants ‘Laxton’s Giant’ – early cropping with huge fruit; ‘Ben Connan’ – new variety with large fruit.

Stockists: Chris Bowers & Sons (www.chrisbowers.co.uk); Reads Nursery (www.readsnursery.co.uk)

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Blackberry ‘Loch Maree’. These thornless plants produce an excellent crop of berries, slightly smaller than ‘Loch Ness’ but they make up for this with their superior sweet and juicy flavour. Three plug plants for only £11.99. Raspberry ‘Heritage’. Fruiting from August until well into autumn, the rich crop of juicy fruits has a delicious aroma. Height supplied: 50cm-60cm (20in-24in). Buy eight raspberry canes for only £11.99. Gooseberry ‘Invicta’, ‘Hinnonmaki Yellow’ and ‘Hinnonmaki Red’. What better than fresh gooseberries collected from your own shrub? Bare root stems supplied. Three varieties for only £11.99.

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To order, call 0844 5736016, quoting TMP10. Or write, enclosing a cheque, payable to TMYP, with your name and address on the back to: The Times Fruit Offer, Dept TMP10, PO Box 99, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 2SN. The offer closes on March 31, 2008. All orders will be acknowledged with a dispatch date. Offers subject to availability. Please note the Soft Fruits Collection will be dispatched separately.

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