fruit bush questions...

[loopyloulou]

me again!
yes same jumbled fruit bed but ive got my poundland fruit bushes (currants gooseberrys and rspberrys) oh and some gifted strawbs and they need seperating to give the slower growing gooseberrys a chance, and so i can get the f!!!g couch grass out (again!) and rescue the strawbs i dont want t do it now but when the best time? and will it upset them? i didnt think id got redcurrants as they didnt fruit last yr n others gave a light crop last yr so really want to keep them all happy! oh and how much room do currants and gooseberrys need? and how do u keep the weeds down? i feel like its me vs an army of couch grass  :'(
sorry for all the questions but fruit/herbs are my faves so im trying to sort them out this yr.... any tips in generall on fruit most greatfully recieved xx

[loopyloulou]

[loopyloulou]

please xx  :-*

[manicscousers]

Hi, again  ;D
we will be moving fruit in autumn,
our gooseberries and currants get a 3' square to themselves, we weeded, then planted through black weed control fabric then covered with wood chip to keep it in place, that and a feed in spring is about it  :)

[goodlife]

Oh..there's a lot of questions to answer... ;)..well I'll do my best and when my fingers start bleeding from typing..others turn.. ;D
Currants; oh..they do go very large bushes if you let them..it all depends how keen you are with pruning and training..I grow mine with minimum of work and maximum berry return..but..my bushes are monsters...red currants grow largest..mine is 10yrs old and gets bit of chop once a year and it takes about square 1 1/2 metres..black currants close second with similar space but not quite as high and goose berries smallest..square metre..
But currants are greedy..and bigger the bush..more you need to provide...
Mine gets some general feed chucked underneath around Feb/March and mulched if and when remembered.. ::)
If you need to rescue your plants..it's better done sooner than later..with a bit of TLC they should soon put new growth on and be in their best for next year ;)
The area where most of my fruit bushes are has large apple tree nearby too...and as I cannot grow anything there successfully I left it to turf over so ground is mowed and around bushes get strimmed..quick and easy... ;) ..I never weed under the bushes..and any fallen fruit stay clean on 'lawn'.

[goodlife]

just had a look your post again...If you can leave the bushes untill they are bare/after leaf drop..that would be best..but if not, puddle the new planting hole so it is really wet and the bush will float first in it ..then back fill and mulch to keep moisture in ;)
But with strawberries..I would do sooner than later..

[jennym]

I wouldn't move anything now here as it's been very dry, and you might find that the roots just don't bed in well, they'll be wanting lots of water every day.
Strawberries I'd move in autumn - you could move established plants and also any rooted runners, and allow 1 square foot per plant. Also, I'd have them in a separate bed, or separate area of the bed, as the plants only really do well for 3 years and then it's best to replace them (you can replace with rooted runners of your own).
Raspberries are normally grown in rows, because most need some support - either when growing or for overwintering canes( overwintering canes for summer types only)  - most folk put posts and wires up. Each plant about 1 to 2 ft apart.
The fruit bushes could be moved any time from late autumn through to late February - depending on district - but best done when they're completely dormant, all the leaves will be off and they won't get so upset by the move. To my mind, its the sort of job I do on a crisp winter's day. My bushes are planted maybe 5 or six feet apart, with heavy duty woven black ground covering to keep down the weeds. You can also use cardboard, it lasts well for the growing season, is free, and can be put on the compost heap when it starts to break down. I think the key to success in keeping weeds down around fruit is to cover the ground in some way.
I'd keep the plants in groups - all the strawb together, all the rasps together, gooseberries and redcurrants together, blackcurrants on their own. . Blackcurrants respond well to being planted deep, in quite moist conditions. Raspberries and strawberries are quite shallow rooted, so dry out a lot quicker in summer than the fruit bushes will. Gooseberries get their leaves attacked by sawfly. So, it makes it easier to deal with specific needs of each plant.

[loopyloulou]

thankyou so much! i will deffo leave the bushes till theyre dormant before i move them and will putb some card/paper/membrane down to stop the weeds when cleared and wow they do need a lot more room then i first thought!!! just aswell ive got a lovely sized plot, ill spread everything out come the start of the winter and hope 4 the best, i think i might use the raspberrys as an edible hedge to keep the kids off my neighbours plot, some of them dont seem to need support but they are popping suckers up everywhere so i guess as theyre so bushy they probably dont need any, thanx again eveyone i love my fruit and am soooo chuffed to have the redcurrants cropping this yr!! yum!

[adeymoo]

You could grow redcurrants and gooseberries as cordons on post and wire spaced at 400mm single cordon / 800mm double cordon 1600 between rows. Can this be done with blackcurrants? This also allows for more plants and different varieties so the picking season is longer.

I understand what you mean with weeds amongst the fruit, my strawberries are missing in action amonst a grassed raised bed, and the fruit cage is more grass cage. I am currently spending my life weeding before I throw down a weed sheet and mulch. When you feed the fruit plants early in the year does the feed pass ok through the sheet (it is not plastic sheet)?

[antipodes]

Don't know about moving but for weeds, this year I put down a thick mulch of manure, compost and believe it or not shredded office paper. And that has been reasinably successful at keeping the grass down, as the raspberries were chocka with it last year and now it is only around the edges. I too have planted all my fruit much too close, but my answer is just to hack down the raspberry "shoots" that come up all over the place. Raspberries quickly get feral it seems.

[detailista]

I have found garlic and onions grow really well under my apple trees (2 yr old so not really shading the area yet) but I did read that they are companion plants.