'Willpower & sheer idiocy combine in harmony'
Superfruit: apricot, dotberries, strawberries
Fruit bed with apricot tree, Pointilla shrubs and everbearing strawberries
AUTUMN and spring are good times for a revamp - in my case, a new fruit bed.
I decided on a major rethink of my raised beds. I'm trying to cut down the amount of seasonal planting (wear and tear on the joints) and fruit, expensive in the shops, seemed the way forward.
The bed's only 2x1m, but it houses a self-fertile apricot tree Kioto, strawberries Parfum Eternal Love (Ewigi Liebi), and two Pointillas, Sweet 'n' Sour and Fortunella, all from Swiss specialist fruit growers Lubera.
The apricot has pink blossoms in spring and the Pointilla, one with golden berries, one red, fruit in autumn, so are very decorative.
Apricot Kioto
I was staggered when the apricot arrived - in a 10l pot, it was getting on for 7ft tall and the most solid two-year-old tree I've had delivered.
It grows to 2-4m, although can be contained with pruning. It cost £30.40 - not cheap, but a really sturdy specimen.
It's best in the shelter of south or west-facing walls, which is where mine is - avoid easterly-facing positions, where morning sun on frosty mornings will destroy the blossom.
Everbearing strawberries
The strawberries are everbearing, fruiting from early June to late summer, combining the best characteristics of garden and wild varieties in this Vescana hybrid.
Fruit is medium to large, heart-shaped at first, later irregular and intense dark red. Taste-wise, it is sweet, with a hint of acidity and a distinct fragrance of wild strawberries.
For more details, log on to www.lubera.co.uk - delivery is just £4.99 per order.
Apricot Kioto blossoming in March; left, strawberry Parfum Eternal Love (Ewigi Liebi) - massive fruit with a tremendous taste.
Super dotberries
WELL, look at this! I was convinced the two Pointilla, or dotberry bushes, had failed this year.
Their tiny white flowers looked like they'd all dropped off and I left them to it.
However, when clearing out the sweet peas, peeping out from under the leaves was a crop of golden and red berries.
They're packed with nutrients, but I can't imagine them being available at the supermarket, as they're fiddly to pick.
They are not self-fertile, so grow two together - I have Sweet 'n' Sour, (coral red berries with white dots). The fruits have a prickling, sweet/sour flavour from mid-October to early November.
Pollinator Fortunella has amber yellow berries with white dots and a sweeter flavour.
They taste great with boring breakfast cereal and fat-free yoghurt.
Both can reach up to 3-4m, but can be limited by pruning to 2.5m.
Pointilla shrubs, in a 5l pot, cost £17.40 each, for more details, log on to www.lubera.co.uk - delivery is just £4.99.
Thinning apricots
BEING a complete novice when it came to growing apricots, I'm delighted my Kioto tree had any fruit at all in its first year.
A few fruitlets were shed in early summer, but apparently there's a 'June drop', the same as apple trees.
Although apricots are less prone to 'overbearing' (setting too much fruit that won't ripen and depleting the energy of the plant, often leading to biennial fruiting), some thinning is required with a heavy set.
Thin to 2-3" apart when the fruits are hazelnut sized - which is early June.
Nearly ripe - at the end of July.