There are a wide variety of strawberry plants and these are broken down into two types: 

Strawberries aftercare

• Once all the fruit has been picked, remove the netting.

• Make sure you continue to feed them as they will push the nutrients into the crown to give you wonderful fruit next year.

• Remove old tired leaves, leaving the crown and new leaves untouched. This allows sunlight into the centre of the plant, ensuring a better crop next year.

• Remove runners unless you wish to use them to increase the number of plants. By cutting off old leaves and runners the health of the plants will be improved as it removes potential sources of disease.

• Keep well-watered so the plants can take up nutrients in higher quantities.

Strawberries Propagation

Making more strawberry plants is really straight forward. The plants produce runners for fun and in beds these can just be pegged down, usually in June or July, while still attached to the mother plant. They will root into the soil and develop into a separate plant. These can be lifted in August time, trimmed away from the mother plant and planted elsewhere. Alternatively, the runner can be pegged into pots where they will root and can be trimmed away in the same manner.

Its best taking runners in year 3 unless you want to be overrun with strawberries. 

Feeding Strawberries

Feeding strawberries is similar to tomatoes in that they can use quite a bit of feed when growing. They also need to be fed all season long to ensure fabulous berries from year to year. A higher potassium ratio feed gives the plant a nice balance of leaf to flower and won’t give you massive triffids with large cabbage leaves and no fruit. Calcium is essential for strawberries to produce lots of strong fruit which will have plenty of shelf life, once harvested. They also require plenty of iron and manganese so regular supplementary feeding is advised especially in pots and raised beds.

Gro-Expert advise feeding at every watering during the growing season and this can be reduced to once per week after fruiting has finished.

The common raspberry cane is a great garden fruit that is easy to grow.  There are many different varieties available and these can bear fruit at different times.

Most raspberries fruit on the wood produced the previous summer. These are "Summer Fruiting Raspberries" categorised as Early, Mid and Late season. Autumn Fruiting Raspberries are shorter, bushier, need much less support, fruit on the current season's growth and will fruit again next year if left to do so.

The raspberry has two canes, the first year cane is called the primocane (primary cane) and in the second year it will produce laterals each with flowers and this is known as the floracane (flower cane).

Which are the best varieties of Raspberry?

Over the years, British breeders have produced some of the greatest raspberry varieties you can buy. So the choice is wide, every year. Here are a few of the best:

Early: ‘Glen Moy’ - Bred in 1986 and still one of the earliest fruiting raspberry plants there is. ‘Malling Jewel’ is a little later but still produces a very good crop.

Mid-Season: ‘Glen Ample’ - Mid Season. Huge crops, great flavour, spine-free. ‘Tulameen’ - Mid/late. Sweet and large fruit. Both of these varieties are still favourites of commercial growers and make up most of the raspberries grown in the UK.

Late-Season: ‘Glen Magna’ - Heavy cropper, ‘Octavia’ - Large fruit. Good for freezing.

Autumn: ‘Autumn Bliss’, ‘Joan J’ and ‘Polka’ all have fanatical proponents. They are delicious and none suffer from raspberry beetle.

Best Soil for Raspberries

Raspberries prefer fertile, slightly acidic soils, which are well-drained and weed free. The planting site should be well dug and cleared of weeds. Raspberries hate extremes, so dry and wet soils are not good unless improved with masses of well-rotted organic material (which raspberries love irrespective of soil type). It is best to make a raised bed to keep roots well drained. Also mulch it with bark to keep the bed moist.

How to harvest Raspberries

• The fruit is ready for picking when it has turned red and the drooplets (smaller portions of the whole berry) swell up.

• Pick any fruit as soon as it's ripe as it becomes an infection point for botrytis if left on the plant.

• The berries detach easily from their central stem, leaving a small core behind. A small twist will help to roll the berries away from the plant.

• Check the plants every two days during the ripening period as they can ripen very fast in the height of summer.

• Well-fed raspberries supported by calcium will be perfect for a week if refrigerated. Raspberries not refrigerated need to be eaten more quickly than other berries as they do not last as long. Raspberries are very good for freezing so this is a great option if you have berry overload!

Pruning Raspberries

Regular annual pruning will result in healthier plants and improved quality crops.

• Summer fruiting floracane should be pruned right back to the ground during the autumn/winter once they have finished fruiting.

• Keep the strongest new canes from each plant to fruit next year, and remove the rest. Tie into supports as soon as you can keep an equal distance between canes.

• All autumn fruiting varieties which have produced second year fruits should be pruned in mid-winter and also cut back to the ground.

Pruning Blackberries

Blackberries are vigorous plants and need regular pruning and training. The shoots of newly-planted briars need to be tied in on a regular basis. Once these reach their first winter, cut back all side-shoots produced on the main briars to 5cm (2in).  Flowers are then formed from the resulting fruiting spurs.

Also once harvested, older stems can be cut back and the fruited stems down to ground level. Be careful not to cut out the new/current year's stems as these will produce the bulk of next year's fruit.

Blackberries propagation

Blackberries are great at tip layering, so if new plants are required or you need a denser fruit patch allow 2-3 growing tips to touch the floor and peg down. These will quickly produce roots and once well rooted can be lifted, cut away from the mother plant and transplanted elsewhere. Alternatively place the growing tip onto a pot of compost and they will happily root into the pots. Once rooted cut away from the mother plant and grow in the pot to produce new plants for later planting.

Blueberries varieties

Many commercial varieties of blueberry are like other commercial fruit grown under licence and are not available to home growers, however, according to the RHS the following varieties are regarded as notable.

‘Tophat’: A self-fertile, heavy-cropping dwarf blueberry. Mature plants attain a height and spread of only 60cm (2ft). The medium-sized berries have a very good flavour. It has an attractive autumn colour.

‘Duke’ AGM: A once highly prized commercial variety, Duke produces stocky bushes and gives good yields of medium to large fruit of excellent flavour. ‘Duke’ flowers late but crops early, so is especially good for northern areas where the growing season is short. It is also partly self-fertile.

‘Spartan’ AGM: Very hardy, early- to mid-season ‘Spartan’ bears large fruits with a sweet, tangy flavour. To crop well, this cultivar needs another blueberry cultivar nearby.

‘Nelson’: A mid- to late-season cultivar that is very hardy and self-fertile. The large fruits and good flavour make it useful for the home fruit garden.

Best soil for Blueberries

Blueberries require light, free-draining acidic soils, with plenty of rich organic matter if they're to flourish. If grown in pots, try and find a peat-based substrate as this is naturally lower in pH, alternatively use ericaceous compost. Blueberries are relatively easy to care for as long as root pH is maintained. It is important to keep the compost or soil of blueberries moist, but not soaking wet and feed regularly but not too much.

The soil should have a lower pH of between 4 and 5.5 so as to avoid any issues. If soil is higher than this, it is possible to lower the pH by adding sulphur chips well in advance of planting. It is a good idea to monitor the soil's pH every few years, because it may be necessary to add acid. If the soil is naturally chalky then place into a raised bed or in containers to avoid unnecessary pH climb.

Blueberries planting

Blueberry bushes may be planted at any time of year as long as the ground isn’t frozen. They are a cold climate fruit so do very well in northern Europe. Planting can be almost anywhere in the garden apart from in full shade. Blueberries thrive in sunny, sheltered spots or even light shade. Although blueberries are tolerant of shade, the sun encourages better fruit and a deeper colour. When planting think about the end size of the variety you are growing and give it enough room to grow.  Dig a large hole spreading the roots as you refill the hole to the base of the stem and then compact the soil down.

It is better to plant two different varieties of blueberries to ensure cross-pollination. While a single blueberry plant will produce fruit, yields will be higher and the fruits bigger if more than one plant is grown.

Growing Blueberries in containers

When growing in a container ideally it should be at least 30cm (12in) in diameter for young plants, and then move into a 45-50cm (18-20in) container when it outgrows the first one. Ensure you use a peat based or ericaceous compost to maintain lower root pH. 

Feeding Blueberries

Blueberries are relatively easy to feed. Remember to keep the compost or soil moist and don’t allow them to dry out between watering’s. Always water blueberries with rainwater, not tap water, unless you have no alternative, say in a drought. If you have no access to rainwater then look into downspout collectors and drums to capture water. Tap water is generally hard and will raise the pH level and blueberries like acidic conditions; tap water will quickly cause deficiencies to appear and may even cause leaf drop if left unchecked. Feed container plants every 2-4 weeks with Gro-Expert berry feed. A higher potassium ratio feed gives the plant a nice balance of leaf to flower and won’t provide too much nitrate nitrogen which blueberries dislike. Calcium is essential for blackberries to produce lots of strong fruit which will have plenty of shelf life, once harvested. Gro-Expert advise feeding every two weeks during the flowering and fruiting period season and this can be reduced to four weeks early and late in the season. 

How to harvest Blueberries

Blueberry fruits, grow in clusters which ripen at different times. Regularly check the plants during the ripening period. Ripe fruits are easy to pick. They are ready to pick once they have turned a deep blue and look larger than their greener companions. Unlike other berries they can be left for a few more days after they turn blue for a more intense and complex flavour. To pick just roll the berry in your fingers to avoid bruising and pull away from the fruit cluster taking care not to dislodge other berries.

Once picked blueberries can be eaten fresh; alternatively, they can be dried, frozen, made into preserves, or used in cooking. They are extremely rich in antioxidants and vitamins (especially vitamin C) so have many health benefits. 

Pruning Blueberries

Blueberries will still produce fruit on the plant’s second year.  Pruning is not really necessary during the first two or three years, however it is good housekeeping to keep the plant tidy. After this, blueberries need regular pruning to maintain plant vigour and the quality of the fruit. The ideal time to prune them is between November and March when the plant is dormant.

Pruning should remove the following:

• Any dead, dying and diseased wood.

• A couple of the oldest branches at the base each year.

• Old limbs that don't produce much fruit to make way for younger, more productive ones.

• Weaker twiggy wood on the ends of fruiting laterals.