Bare Root Fruit Bushes

Gooseberry crumble, blueberries sprinkled over your breakfast granola – bare root fruit bushes are the promise of treats to come!

And on a more prosaic note, they’re an economical way of purchasing soft fruit plants for your kitchen garden and ornamental edible garden. Plus many of these fruit bushes can be successfully grown in containers and small spaces.

Which Fruits are we talking about?

A good question! There is a fine line which is frequently crossed, and that is the use of the terms ‘bush fruit’, ‘cane fruit’ and ‘soft fruit’. All of these are available to buy as bare root and container plants. Briefly, the differences between them can be described as follows: –

Bush fruit

grows on a firm perennial woody framework or bush which grows year on year, such as currants. This includes any trained forms such as cordons or standards.

gooseberry bushes, gooseberry, mulch, ribes uva-crispa, flower buds, ribes glossularia

Cane fruit

grows on softer stemmed canes that send out new canes rather than developing a framework of woody stems. Also considered to refer more specifically to the Rubus species of fruits, such as raspberries.

raspberry plant in pot, fruit, kitchen garden, spring, grow your own, red house, william morris

Soft fruit

Soft fruit specifically refers to small perennial fruit plants such as strawberries, but is also used as a more general term to cover bush fruit and cane fruit and soft fruit.

But don’t worry if you can’t remember! The botanical differences and similarities are not so critical. In this article I’ll only be looking at bush fruit (as defined above) but have included some blog links at the end.

Choosing your Bare Root Fruit Bushes – What to consider

First things first – what fruit do you and your family like to eat? There’s no point buying a garden full of gooseberry bushes if you only eat redcurrants!
How much room do you have? It is possible to buy bare root fruit as trained forms, for example blackcurrant cordons, which take up less space.
What’s your budget? Make a list and stick to it (or try to 😉)
Do you want to grow fruit that’s expensive to buy, a heritage variety, etc? Or is it more important to have ones that are easy to look after, disease resistant and so on?
Will you be there to harvest your fruit? You can choose early, mid or late season varieties to fit in with your usual holiday times.

Why Buy Bare Root Plants?

What are the pros and cons of growing your own fruit bushes as bare root plants over the winter months rather than in midsummer when you can see the fruit on the bush?

Advantages

Cheaper to buy than container grown, usually about 30% less
Unlikely to be root bound as roots have been free growing in the field
Require less watering whilst settling in than container grown fruit bushes
A wide range of species, varieties and cultivars are available, including local to you, rare and heritage fruit
A good selection of trained fruit forms is available
Young plants tend to establish quickly in their new location
Easier to handle as lighter weight, so you can lift then into your car
Cheaper delivery costs than container grown if buying on-line

Disadvantages

They need to be removed from their packaging straight away. Be sure the roots don’t dry out
If the weather is very frosty, snowy or wet the bare root fruit bushes cannot be planted straight away
They will need some sort of ‘holding bed’ or pot. Store them in a cool, shaded place, such as the north side of the house, shed or garage
You will need to protect the roots, so pack them in moist wood shavings, straw or potting soil
Preferably, if the ground isn’t frozen, dig a trench and ‘heel in’ the trees, ie temporarily cover the roots with soil
They may be young bushes, so will take longer to fruit well. Check on the age of the bare root plants you’re buying if this is an issue
Only a limited time period for purchase
Which means there’s a limited amount of planting time available to the gardener. Bare root bushes need to be planted during dormancy (no leaves, or with very young leaf buds), and certainly before bud break (When the leaf and flower buds open)

Buying Bare Root Fruit Bushes

Winter is the time of the year when bare root plants are available for purchase, as this is when deciduous plants are dormant, and even evergreens slow down. The bare root season runs roughly from mid-November through to mid-March, although much depends on how mild autumn is, as the plants are not dug up until they are fully dormant. And the end of the season tallies with the emergence of new growth, or when stocks have all been sold.

Generally speaking there’s a wider range of varieties available as bare root bushes than you’d find as container grown. If you’re after something a bit different, I’d definitely recommend looking at the online catalogues of specialist fruit nurseries.

NB Not all specialist plant nurseries are open to the public or ‘drop in’ visitors. If you are planning a visit, contact them first: they may only be allowing people to collect orders in person. If you’re new to this, then being able to collect in person and have a quick chat with the nursery staff can be really helpful and confidence building.

Not that you’ll be awed by the young fruit bushes – to be perfectly honest, they’re a bit stick like at this stage in their growth! Even I find it more tempting to sit down with a pot of coffee and work through the online offerings, list by my side. (Especially when the weather is foul).

The Different Fruit Bushes

Currants

These come in various colours, so we have blackcurrants, redcurrants, white currants and pink currants. They’re all members of the genus Ribes, although not all of the 200 or so species have edible fruits.

Blackcurrants

are well known for being high in vitamin C. Usually grown as a bush, but can be grown as single or double cordon. I like eating them raw as well as cooked, so if you’re like me, try Wellington XXX which is sweeter than most. Ben Connan is probably the heaviest cropper.

Blackcurrant bush, flowers in bud, ribes nigrum, edible gardens, grow your own fruit, allotment

Redcurrants

are considered to be the ‘norm’, with Whitecurrants and Pinkcurrants being ‘sports’. London Market redcurrant is a heritage variety which does well across most of Britain despite its name. White Versailles has been a justifiably popular variety of white currant for years. Pink currant ‘Gloire de sabion’ is more easily found as a bare root fruit bush than as container grown.

white currants, Photo by FOODISM360 on Unsplash;

Other Bush and Cane Fruit

Gooseberries

are Ribes uva-crispa. Home grown fruits are sweet and juicy, and the range of varieties you can grow mean you can eat some straight from the bush. Their stems generally have spines, which is a defensive measure to stop animals from eating the fruit.

Jostaberry

basically, Ribes × nidigrolariais a cross between blackcurrant and gooseberry; the first cultivar was available in 1977. It has a sweeter fruit than blackcurrants and the bush is thornless.

Goji berries

have been hailed as a ‘new’ fruit, but Lycium barbarum were actually introduced to Britain in the 1600s! they’re tolerant of salt-laden air and windy situations so make a good fruit to grow in coastal gardens.

Honeyberry

Lonicera caerulea is a member of the honeysuckle family, but it is a shrub not a climber. Although some other Lonicera have edible berries, Honeyberry is the one to grow if you wish to enjoy the fruit crop! Two compatible varieties are needed for cross pollination and fruit set.

Acid-soil loving Bush and Cane Fruit

Blueberries, Cranberries and Lingonberries all require an acid soil. If you have an alkaline soil then grow them in pots or separate raised beds in a peat free ericaceous soil. Blueberries, Cranberries and Lingonberries all belong to the genus Vaccinium.

Blueberries

as well as blueberries there are also pinkberries! Both are Vaccinium corymbosumandhave foliage which turns an attractive red in the autumn. Although largely self-fertile, they produce a better crop if 2 or more varieties are grown. If space is an issue, there are dwarfing varieties available. Often referred to as highbush blueberries.

Unlike the fruit bushes above, the following form low creeping shrubs.

Bilberry

our native species is Vaccinium myrtillus, although you may know it as whinberry, European blueberry, or lowbush blueberry. A favourite with foragers and walkers, its an undemanding fruit to grow in the kitchen garden.

Cranberries

the native species is known as Northern cranberry, Vaccinium oxycoccos and generally evergreen. There are also cultivars available which may crop more heavily. The pinky-red flowers are very attractive.

cranberry bush, Vaccinium, acid soil loving fruit

Lingonberries

Vaccinium vitis-idaea: popular in Scandinavian cooking.

Bare Root Fruit Bushes – final thoughts

Growing perennial fruit can be an easy way to find time and space to grow your own. Although maintenance is required at certain times of the year, overall, fruit bushes are fairly self-reliant once established. Planting your bare root bushes into well-prepared soil gets them off to a good start.

And there is something very satisfying about picking handfuls of jewel-like redcurrants from your own garden. Not only are they tasty and (probably) organically grown, but they’re freshly picked so full to bursting with nutrients as well as flavour.

Whatever you do, enjoy your garden and if Plews can help you with anything, please do get in touch. For example –

For help in designing your own fruit garden our Garden Consultancy & Advice Visitsmay help with some of your issues. Or does your planting need a rethink?

Perhaps gardening classes to learn how to grow your own fruit Plews bespoke Gardening Lessons, where your classroom is actually your own garden, may be just what you need! Have a read through this pdf download for info.

For further gardening advice and inspiration, check out Plews Potting Shed blogs, including the selection below. You could come and find us on Instagram Pinterest and Facebook too.

Feeling nosey? You can have a peek at the progress of my garden renovation, Spitfires and Slow Worms, on Instagram and Facebook

You’ll get to see it in person if you come to the Plews Gardening Workshops Current ones on Eventbrite for you to book into. Updates on topics and dates can be found on Plews website.

Plus get your local garden club, allotment, WI, U3A or other group to ask me along to give a talk (and bring plants 😉)