Fruit Plants

Easy to grow and relished by many, enjoying strawberries has always been a nostalgic part our English summers. Eager to begin growing your own? Then read our wonderful guide.

Delicious in desserts or as a nutritious snack, soft fruit berries (such as blueberries or raspberries) are a pleasure to grow! In this blog, we breakdown how to grow soft fruits such as blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries and more!

Strawberries are best planted in the spring – March or April are the best months. Keep an eye on frost – you’ll need to hold off planting strawberries until the last frost has passed, so if there’s a late frost that year, don’t rush to plant your strawberries.

When choosing the location to grow your rhubarb, make sure you pick a spot in full sun that will get partial shade in the afternoon when it is warmer. They grow best in rich, slightly moist soil – if the soil is too wet the roots can rot and cause a multitude of problems.

Allow the plant plenty of space to grow and spread out and water it during dry periods such as autumn and winter.

Water and fertiliser are the two key components you’ll need for a healthy strawberry plant. While trying to establish your strawberry plant, make sure that you water them frequently. In hot weather, check the soil and give the plants extra water if the top half-inch of compost has dried out.

Strawberries grown in pots or hanging baskets can be fed with a balanced fertiliser every two weeks then with a high-potash liquid fertiliser once flowering begins. Water-retaining granules are also a good addition to the compost to prevent dehydration.

Once the raspberry can begin to produce fruit, depending on the seasonality of the variety you’ve chosen to grow, you can continue to harvest raspberries from June all the way through to October. We recommend buying raspberry canes with different harvest seasons to avoid a glut during one month of the year.

All the information we have regarding when a tree will fruit and the best crops can usually be found in the description on the product page. Don't worry if the crops aren't ready for picking right at the start of the harvesting season as their growth is highly weather-dependent. If you find yourself towards the end of the harvesting period with no crops, ask us on our live chat and we’ll see what we can find out for you.

Rhubarb is perennial which means that it will grow back every year. However, when you first plant your rhubarb, although it may be tempting, it is important that you don’t pick it in its first year until it has become established. Allowing it to grow properly will make the plant stronger and produce larger amounts of stems in the following years.

You should protect your rhubarb varieties during the cold and winter, just like you would from the sun's strong rays in the summer. Over winter, it is a good idea that you cover them with a frost-resistant fleece.

You can also add a layer of protection by applying compost or fertiliser to the plant.

If your rhubarb stalks aren't completely red, don't worry because this isn't a sign of ripeness. Instead, to tell if it is ready to be harvested, measure the lengths of the stalks – if they're around 7-15 inches long then they are ready.