Allotment holders urged to get fruity

By Hannah Stephenson

It's not only the humble potato or common carrot which can thrive on allotments - you can also grow a cornucopia of delicious soft fruits like summer berries and blackcurrants.

What's more, fruit bushes and trees are long-lived. Gooseberries and blackcurrants can do well for 20 years, trees can produce for decades and raspberry canes can last more than 10 years.

"Plot-holders are better off looking at soft fruit because it takes up less space than fruit trees and is easier to manage and pick," says Mike Thurlow, horticultural adviser to the National Allotment Society, which is running this year's National Allotments Week campaign with Kelly's of Cornwall.

"The root run of soft fruit isn't so expansive so it doesn't interfere with other crops or with neighbours' plots."

Summer fruits are generally easier to care for than larger fruit trees. Many currants can be grown as bushes, while raspberries and blackberries need to be trained against a framework structure, usually a post and wire system.

"Soft fruit can't be shoved away in a cold corner," Thurlow explains. "Full sun is needed to ripen the wood rather than the fruit because it is ripe wood which gives you the bountiful harvest the following year."

If you are growing bushes or training trees, plan them as part of the structure of your allotment, as they are likely to be permanent fixtures. Most fruit trees are pollinated by insects so you'll need to avoid windy sites, and add plenty of organic matter to the soil, which needs to be well-drained.

Strawberries, one of the nation's favourite summer fruits, should be placed in the sunniest border and should be moved around on a three-year cycle.

Few allotments allow trees to be grown because they shade other plots and sometimes can't be moved when a new tenant arrives. So if you want to grow fruit trees, you may have to buy dwarf rootstocks to train, creating espaliers, cordons or fans in sunny.

"Redcurrants, white currants and gooseberries can be fan-trained and turned into espaliers and cordons. It's a bit of fun. You could train them up the side of a shed or make make a support from stakes and training wires," Thurlow explains.

"Fruit which is trained takes up less room and is easier to manage because the fruit has air and light around it so there are likely to be fewer disease problems."

Be warned that blackcurrants are big plants which will need plenty of room, each taking up around 1.5 square metres of ground so don't plant them too close together.

"You'll often have fewer berries from two struggling plants than from one good one," Thurlow points out.

Unless you live in a really mild area and your plot is sheltered, avoid trying to grow tender fruits such as figs, apricots and peaches on your allotment, as they will need so much protection.

All soft fruits should be planted in a sheltered spot away from frost pockets. Choose late varieties to help avoid frost damage and make sure you net the fruits from the birds. A fruit cage is essential and should be allowed on allotments as it is classed as a temporary structure.

Avoid planting soft fruit where it has been grown before as it can lead to replant disease, resulting in stunted growth. Buy stock which has been certified free of pests and disease to avoid the fatal viral disease.

As for placing your plants, Thurlow advises to keep all your fruit bushes together as a group in a south or west-facing spot where they will receive the maximum sun.

"Put your raspberries at the back because they grow tall, then plant blackcurrants, white currants and gooseberries in front and strawberries right at the front," he advises.

For success with strawberries, grow them in well-drained, moisture-retentive, humus-rich soil, adding lots of well-rotted compost or manure and a sprinkling of phosphate, and make sure they're in a sunny spot. Strawberries should be planted in late summer as they need a period of cold to flower and fruit the following year.

Plant the crown at soil level and keep the area well-weeded, or grow them through weed-suppressing horticultural plastic. Strawberries should not be watered from overhead, as moisture on the fruits can rot.

Growing fruit on your allotment may take a little patience as many types will not bear fruit the same year they are planted (summer raspberries, blackberries and gooseberries will fruit in the second year and redcurrants in the third), but once they are established, they will not let you down.

:: National Allotments Week runs from August 5 - 11. For more information visit www.nsalg.org.uk Best of the bunch - Crocosmia These scorching stunners from South Africa which often outlast many other border perennials appear in high summer. Their sizzling orange and red flowers emerge above sword-shaped leaves, adding both structure and colour to the border. They look great combined with heleniums, coreopsis and red hot pokers, or with silver foliage plants. There are also yellow types which work well with blue flowers such as salvias. Crocosmias tolerate most types of soil but need protecting from drought by mulching and extra watering if the soil is free-draining. Some varieties are hardier than others. My favourite is the bright red C. 'Lucifer', which stands 120cm (4ft) tall and is reliably hardy, adding fiery highlights to the summer border. Try C. x crocosmiliflora 'Solfatare' to add a splash of yellow to a border, or C. 'Severn Sunrise', which produces a compact, upright, blaze of colour. The rounded, shining seedheads follow the vivid bloom and create an interesting effect on the arching stems. The corms can be lifted, divided and replanted every few years.

Good enough to eat - Rocket Why buy expensive bags of rocket in the supermarket when you can grow it so easily in your garden? It's become one of the most popular peppery leaves to add to salads or to dress dishes such as grilled goat's cheese. Rocket likes moisture-retentive soil and some shade. It dislikes hot, dry weather, so sow it early in well-drained soil or, if your soil is heavy, start it off in cell trays and plant out in open ground when the seedlings are large enough to handle.

It's grown in the same way as lettuce, preferring the cooler conditions of spring. If you're growing it in pots, sow it more densely than lettuce and harvest it when the leaves are young, as it can run to seed quickly. To keep up the supply, wait until one crop is showing a couple of leaves and sow a few more. Make sowings from February to June and from August to October. In the winter months, carry on under cloches.

Three ways to... Boost your veg with companions 1. Grow tomatoes with French marigolds to reduce spider mite and whitefly.

2. Grow onions or garlic near roses. Their strong sulphur smell deters aphids and confuses other pests.

3. Try planting pots of mint near cabbage, as it puts off cabbage white larvae, aphids and flea beetles.

What to do this week :: Continue to feed roses regularly with rose food that is high in potash and magnesium. If they are in a mixed border, feed the whole area :: Prune philadelphus, or mock orange, after it has flowered :: In hot, dry spells, lift the cutting blades of your lawn mower by 1cm (half an inch) so that you don't cut it too short :: If you are going away, move your containers to a cool, shady spot, stand them in saucers and water them thoroughly before you go. Get family or neighbours to water while you're away :: Clip privet and other fast-growing hedges :: Take cuttings of clematis :: Cut lavender for drying :: Continue to sow maincrop carrots, spring cabbage, oriental leaves and lettuce :: Thin out weeds from your pond to provide more oxygen :: In the greenhouse, re-pot cyclamen corms saved from last winter and water them very lightly to start them back into growth :: Cut back lupins and delphiniums and the plants may go on to produce a few late flowers :: Divide and replant bearded irises :: Layer honeysuckle, wisteria and passion flower to increase stock. Bend shoots down to the ground, slit the stem, dust with rooting powder and bury that portion of the stem in the soil. Hold in place with a large stone and don't let the soil dry out. Layered shoots take about a year to root