Make your patio edible

If you have space for a container, then you have space to grow your own fruit and there’s no doubt that the taste of fresh home-grown crops is hard to beat. Stepping outside the back door and picking juicy, sun-ripened fruit is one of the joys of gardening in summer and autumn and is a rich reward for our labours.
Container growing also allows you to shelter your fruit from damaging weather and keep a closer eye on pests such as hungry slugs and birds, as it is easy to net plants in pots.
Soft fruit bought in containers from garden centres ideally need potting on into 25cm or 30cm (10in or 12in) pots. Avoid heavy containers to make it easier to move them, and save splashing out on an expensive pot until your bush or tree is established.

Constant care
Container-grown fruit crops do a lot of work in a small space, most transforming themselves from twigs into lush green bushes laden with flowers and fruit every year. Therefore, they need vigilant watering and feeding to be kept happy. Never rely on the rain when it comes to watering your fruit as thorough soakings are required once a week during the growing season and rain will struggle to get down to the base of bushes in full leaf. Mulching with bark or leaf mould will help the plants hold on to moisture and stop the compost from drying out.

Feeding
Add a granular slow-release fertiliser to the compost when potting up or potting on your fruit as this will keep releasing nutrients over a period of several months and will save forgetfulness! Liquid-based high potash feeds are ideal once fruit begins to set and an application once a week when watering should ensure good quality fruits.

Strawberries
Strawberries are at home in any container from hanging baskets to wall planters and varieties such as ‘Alice’ and ‘Sophie’ are great in hanging baskets away from the attention of slugs. Provided they are well fed and watered, strawberries will happily grow in any compost and produce fruit in next to no time, giving quick rewards for little effort. Perpetual varieties such as ‘Ostara’ and ‘Flamenco’ will give you three flushes of fruit for a very productive container.

Redcurrants
Useful for their ornamental value and their ability to tolerate partial shade, redcurrants are an easy and rewarding fruit for the patio. Bushes are long lasting, staying productive for 10 years in a container, and are self-fertile and reasonably cheap. Redcurrants will tolerate some shade but stems heavily laden with fruit will need protection from strong winds and birds.

Citrus
Citrus crops are tailor-made for containers, needing over-wintering in frost-free conditions to last year after year. Be cautious of varieties that claim to be hardy, as no lemons or oranges can be guaranteed to survive the winter, although lemons tend to be hardier than oranges. They are best suited to being grown in lime-free John Innes compost and will benefit from re-potting every two to three years. Citrus flowers are fragrant and purchasing mature trees should ensure reasonable crops from the word go. Grow outside in a sunny and sheltered spot until the first frosts of the winter and then bring them inside out of strong sunlight. Water sparingly indoors in the winter months.

Blueberries
Blueberries have been all the rage recently and they have a lot to offer throughout the year. Sprays of white blossom appear in profusion in spring, followed by plump and juicy fruits. After fruiting, foliage becomes a fiery mix of oranges and reds, adding a blaze of autumnal fire to the patio. Although very popular, blueberries are not the easiest of soft fruits to grow. They require very acid compost with an ideal pH of 4.5/5, therefore ericaceous compost is a must. Mixing the compost with composted bark and sawdust to loosen it up is also preferable, as blueberries need an open growing medium for their roots to penetrate it and establish themselves. Ideally water blueberries with rain water, although this is not absolutely essential – it’s more important to simply ensure that they do not dry out at any stage. Grow two different varieties to ensure good pollination.

Apples
If you yearn for the taste of home-grown apples but don’t have the space in the garden for extra trees, then give them
a go in pots. Most varieties sold in nurseries and garden centres are semi-dwarfing and can be grown successfully as a single stem known as a minarette. The leading stem is allowed to grow upwards, while the side shoots are pruned back in summer after fruiting. Spur bearing varieties such as ‘Braeburn’, ‘Sunset’ and ‘Egremont Russet’ are needed to ensure a good crop for this method of growing.
Grow two compatible varieties to ensure good pollination. Don’t be tempted by ‘family’ trees that have multiple varieties grafted onto one tree, as the most dominant variety will soon take over.