Planting and caring for soft fruit bushes

In short: Currants, gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries provide plenty of fruit every year, even in a small garden. They are usually robust but need the right kind of pruning.

In more detail: The species differ mainly in which wood bears the fruit. This determines which shoots you cut back and when.

In detail

• Position: Most fruit bushes like a sunny to partly shaded spot and loose soil rich in humus. In the sun the fruit becomes sweeter.
• Planting time: Bare-root plants are best planted in autumn or early spring. Container-grown plants can go in almost all year round, as long as the ground is not frozen.
• Currants: After harvesting, remove the oldest shoots close to the ground so that the bush renews itself with young growth.
• Gooseberries: Thin out in a similar way to currants. Choose mildew-resistant varieties, as gooseberry mildew is a common fungal disease.
• Summer raspberries: They fruit on the previous year’s canes. After harvesting, cut the fruited canes down to the ground and leave the young canes.
• Autumn raspberries: They fruit on the current year’s canes. All canes are cut down to the ground in late winter, which is especially easy.
• Blackberries: They grow vigorously and need a trellis. The canes fruit in their second year and are removed afterwards. Thornless varieties are more pleasant to look after.
• Blueberries: Cultivated blueberries need acidic, lime-free soil. Ideally plant them in ericaceous compost and water them with rainwater.
• Care: Fruit bushes have shallow roots. Mulching keeps the soil moist, and a net protects ripe fruit from birds (obstbaeume-pflanzen-und-schneiden, mulchen-im-garten, regenwasser-sammeln-und-nutzen).