Beginner Fruits?

The_Gatsby

Can anybody tell me some good fruits for a beginner to grow in Ireland? I know I definitely want Strawberries but am not really sure what other fruits will grow well here. I have never gardened before so something low maintenance/easy to care for would be nice Thanks

pawrick

Here's what we have in my parents garden fruit wise:

Gooseberrys grow well here - can't remember when I planted for my parents but they didn't take much looking after to get fruit - I just planted shoots with some roots straight in to the soil with some compost - we got fruit of them two years running so far

Rasberry and backberry - but these can get out of control if not cut back

Black currants are nice too

slow growing:
Apples trees
Damson plum trees

edit - not knowledgable re gardening but our soil would be loose as there is a lot of sand nearby around some eskers near Athlone

ceekay74

Lukebray wrote: »

Can anybody tell me some good fruits for a beginner to grow in Ireland? I know I definitely want Strawberries but am not really sure what other fruits will grow well here. I have never gardened before so something low maintenance/easy to care for would be nice Thanks

Definitely give raspberries a go. Give them a good sunny spot and some occasional feed and they'll reward you.

Dizzyblonde

Blueberries are really easy. I have a plant in a pot on my patio and I get tons of fruit off it. All you have to do is give it some tomato feed when the fruit are developing. Got my plant in Aldi a couple of years ago - I was in there yesterday and they have fruit plants, you should have a look.

Zuiderzee

Gojiberry, rasberry,gooseberry, blueberry etc are good, keep an eye out in Aldi and Lidl who do good deals on fruit bushes and canes.

Blackberry are really easy to grow - and find, take large cuttings early in the year and weave them into the garden hedge.

Strawberries require a bit of care when fruiting, straw makes a good mulch under them.

I keep a strawberry bed, a small one - and also grow asparagus crowns in the same bed to maximise production from a small space.
I understand there are also hanging varieties of strawberry and if you want a decorative feature there are nice planters available from garden centres.

If your fruit get rust, spray with milk diluted 1 part milk to 9 parts water. This gives friendly bacteria who eat rust a great start

Oldtree

Rasberrys are very easy and kids love them.

if you go for them get summer ones and autumn ones for a long supply.

Summer ones flower and fruit on last years stems so you only remove the stems that have flowered and had berrys on in the subsequent winter leaving other shoots to flower and fruit the next summer. Autumn ones flower and fruit on this years stems so just remove stems every year.

Autumn bliss is a very good producer.

Rubarb is easy as are apples.

Strawberrys are difficult and require some protection from our friendly composters the slugs. Easy to grow in a pot with a tray underneath. The tray lets you know when water is needed and ensures that the pot is at field capacity (sufficient water available to the plants in the pot) and the moat keeps the slugs at bay. Usually a handful of chicken manure in the pot will keep it going until harvest.