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How to grow fruit
It's easy to grow your own apples, blueberries, gooseberries, and blackberries in your garden. Which? shows you how
Picking your own fresh fruit is a real joy and you don't even need lots of space to do it as many fruits can be grown in pots on the patio.
Which? Gardening has trialled varieties of all your favourite fruits to help you choose the best ones to grow. We not only grow them all to see how productive they are, but we also taste them to make sure you get the ones with the best flavour.
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How to grow blueberries
Best Buy blueberry varieties
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| Variety | Overall rating | Height x spread (cm) | Average harvest (g) | Yield | Quality of berries | Vigour | Autumn leaf colour | Taste |
| 'Aurora' | ||||||||
| 'Buddy' | ||||||||
| 'Darrow' | ||||||||
| 'Liberty' | ||||||||
| 'Ozark Blue' | ||||||||
| 'Powder Blue' | ||||||||
| 'Rubel' |
The more stars the better. OVERALL SCORE The more stars the better. Rating is based on: yield 50%; quality of berries 15%; vigour 15%; autumn colour 10%; taste 10%.
Planting
Plant in a moist, well-drained, acid soil with a pH of 5.5 or lower.
If planting in pots, use ericaceous compost and add a controlled-release feed suitable for acid-loving plants. Choose a container that's at least 6L for young plants, then move into 10-12L pots as they grow.
Blueberries like a sunny and sheltered spot, so they're ideal for growing on patios.
Keep the soil around your plants moist, watering with rainwater if possible.
If you’re planting your blueberries in the ground, they may not need a specific feed. You can apply a mulch of well-rotted leaf mould or composted conifer clippings. Conifer clippings have the added benefit of helping to acidify the soil.
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Pruning
Your plants should not need pruning in the first two years. Prune older plants from late February to early March, removing around a quarter of the old wood at the base every year.
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Protecting from cold
Blueberries are on the tender side, so it’s a good idea to wrap pots in bubble wrap for winter and bring them inside if the forecast is particularly bad. Flower buds are also susceptible to frost, so cover them with fleece if frost is forecast during this period.
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How and when to harvest
July to August
Protect your berries from birds by covering the fruit with netting as it starts to ripen. Harvest them when they turn a dusty-blue colour. You may need to pick over your bushes several times, as they don’t all ripen at once.
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How to grow apples
Recommended apple varieties
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Dessert apples
| Variety | Overall rating | Appearance | Aroma | Taste | Texture |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 'Ashmead's Kernel' | |||||
| 'Cox's Orange Pippin' | |||||
| 'Fiesta' | |||||
| 'Jonagold' | |||||
| 'Jupiter' | |||||
| Kidd's Orange Red' | |||||
| 'Laxton's Superb' |
OVERALL SCORE ignores price and is based on: taste 50%; texture 25%; appearance 10%; and aroma 10%.
Cooking apples
| Variety | Overall rating | Appearance when baked | Appearance when stewed | Aroma when baked | Aroma when stewed | Taste when baked | Taste when stewed | Texture when baked | Texture when stewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 'Annie Elizabeth' | |||||||||
| 'Bleinheim Orange' | |||||||||
| 'Bramley's Seedling' | |||||||||
| 'Charles Ross' | |||||||||
| 'Granny Smith' | |||||||||
| 'Howgate Wonder' | |||||||||
| 'Lane's Prince Albert' |
OVERALL SCORE ignores price and is based on: taste 50%; texture 25%; appearance 10%; and aroma 10%.
Rootstocks
Apple trees are grown from shoots grafted onto a rootstock, which controls the final size of the tree. This lets you choose your apple based on flavour, but also on a tree that’s the right size for your garden.
Apple rootstocks have codes starting with M and followed by a number. There are six rootstocks in total, covering every size of tree from a stepover to an orchard tree. It’s worth speaking to a specialist for advice on the best rootstock for your needs.
Planting
Apples thrive in moist but well-drained, fertile soil.
Choose a frost-free position, sheltered from strong winds. A sunny spot is best, but they tolerate shade for part of the day.
Most apple trees only fruit well when planted near a compatible pollinator tree. This can be another apple tree or an ornamental crab apple. Ask for advice from your nursery when choosing your variety.
Plant as bare-root trees from late autumn until early spring, or as container-grown plants at other times.
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Ensure the root flare (where the trunk broadens as it becomes the roots) is just above the soil surface. Place a stick across the planting hole and hold your tree in the right position when back-filling with soil.
Stake your tree to keep it stable and allow the roots to establish undisturbed. Water and then mulch with soil improver.
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Watering and feeding
Water young trees and pot-grown trees regularly in dry weather. Apply a general fertiliser, such as growmore, in spring, and replenish the mulch of soil improver as necessary.
For pot-grown trees, scrape off 2cm of the old compost from the top of the pot and add fresh compost for containers mixed with controlled-release feed each spring. You may need to increase the size of the pot as the tree grows.
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Harvesting and storing fruit
Harvest only ripe fruit. Cup it in your hand, lifting and twisting gently. A ripe apple will come away cleanly from the tree.
Not all varieties store well. Only save unblemished apples with no bruises, cuts or insect damage. Keep in a cool, dark place with good ventilation.
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Pruning
One and two-year-old trees will need formative pruning over the winter to achieve a healthy, strong shape. Further pruning will depend on whether your tree is tip-bearing or spur-bearing and the form of your tree, such as cordon or espalier.
Pruning encourages the tree to grow fruit, helps air circulate and lets sunlight onto the fruit. Remove any dead, diseased or crossing branches, but try not to take too much growth each year.
How to grow gooseberries
Best Buy gooseberries
Which? members can log in now to see the full results and detailed reviews of our Best Buy varieties. If you're not a member, join Which? for instant access.
Full testing results for gooseberries
| Variety | Overall rating | Height x spread (cm) | Yield per plant (g) | Flavour | Yield | Pest & disease resistance | Ease of picking |
| 80 x 90 | 1300 | ||||||
| 90 x 100 | 1300 | ||||||
| 80 x 100 | 1400 | ||||||
| 80 x 90 | 1300 | ||||||
| 60 x 70 | 781 | ||||||
| 70 x 100 | 204 | ||||||
| 80 x 120 | 824 |
Ratings in the table are from the third year, when plants were established. OVERALL RATING Ignores price and is based on: flavour 35%, yield 30%, pest and disease resistance 25%, ease of picking 10%.
Planting
Grow in sun or part shade in fertile, heavy soil that is well drained. Clay is ideal.
Buy plants as bare roots or in pots. Grow as bushes, on cordons, or in containers.
Space 1.2-1.5m apart.
Help your plants with a recommended soil improver
Feeding
Feed in late winter with a balanced granular fertiliser at 100g per sq m, such as Vitax Q4. Mulch well with soil improver.
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Encouraging a good crop
Protect from late frosts by covering plants with fleece on cold nights. Water plants well while the fruit is setting.
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Pruning
Aim for a goblet-shaped bush on a ‘leg’ or trunk. In midsummer, prune side-shoots to five leaves. Thin large-berried varieties in early summer, removing every other fruit. In winter, remove dead, diseased or dying wood.
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How and when to harvest
May to July
The best way to harvest your fruit is in two sessions. Pick every other fruit when the berries are semi-ripe, around the end of May or beginning of June - traditionally this was done for the Whitsun holiday. This first crop has the highest pectin levels, making it ideal for jam making or tarts and crumbles. It also coincides nicely with elderflowers, the flavour of which combines brilliantly with gooseberries.
Leave the rest of the fruit on the plant to ripen fully, and enjoy them fresh like grapes around the middle of July. This is the only stage when you’ll need to protect the berries from the birds. All varieties can be treated this way.
How to grow blackberries
Best Buy blackberries
Which? members can log in now to see the full results and detailed reviews of our Best Buy varieties. If you're not a member, join Which? for instant access.
| Variety | Overall rating | Timing of fruit | Yield per plant (g) | Yield rating | Flavour | Texture | Pest/disease resistance |
| 'Apache' | |||||||
| 'Helen' | |||||||
| 'Loch Maree' | |||||||
| 'Loch Ness' | |||||||
| 'Loch Tay' | |||||||
| 'Navaho Big and Early' | |||||||
| 'Oregon Thornless' |
PERFORMANCE Timing of fruit The time when most of the fruit was picked: Early, from start of July; Mid, from start of August; Late, from end of August. Overall rating ignores price and is based on: taste and texture 30%, flavour 30%, yield 25%, health 15%.
Planting
Buy blackberries in autumn or spring, as bare-root plants or in containers. Space them out at the recommended planting distance so that they have enough room. Blackberries cope with partial shade, but the fruits are sweeter when grown in the sun. Enrich heavy soils with soil improver before planting.
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Feeding
Feed plants in spring with Vitax Q4 or Growmore, and mulch with soil improver, such as garden compost or well-rotted manure.
Help your plants with a recommended soil improver
Pruning and training
Blackberries are vigorous and need supporting. Grow on a wall or fence, tying in along strong wires.
After planting, cut stems back to a bud 20cm from the base of the plant, so that plants produce new shoots in spring.
Fruit is only produced on two-year-old canes. To help make pruning and picking easier, tie in all the new canes in one direction. These will crop next year. The following year, tie in canes produced that year in the opposite direction; these will crop the year after. Training like this will help make it quick and easy to separate and identify one- and two-year-old canes.
In autumn, prune the canes that have fruited at their base. Tidy the plant in early spring to remove any dead, diseased or dying growth after winter.
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How and when to harvest
August-September
Berries are best picked ripe and then either eaten fresh, or used in jams, jellies or even wine for a taste of summer all year round. If you want to freeze them, do so as soon as possible after picking.
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How to grow strawberries
Check our full guide to growing strawberries, plus Best Buy varieties
How to grow raspberries
Check our full guide to growing raspberries, plus Best Buy varieties