It is only too easy to spend ten months or more in bringing the fruit to perfection by correct feeding, pruning, pest and disease control, etc., and then to fail at the last post because of bad gathering and harvesting.
With raspberries, it is a question of cutting out all the old wood and retaining the new, though, if the canes are stunted, one can suspect virus troubles, and then it will be best to scrap the rows and start all over again.
Every effort should be made to trace any agricultural drainage system that may have been laid down years ago, for where there are agricultural drains these should be kept rodded, for it is easy for them to get blocked up by the roots of plants.
Trees that are reverted will have to be dug out and burnt. Neglected redcurrants must also be pruned, but here it is a question of retaining the main branches to form a cup-shaped tree and to cut back the side growths to within an inch or two of their base. Gooseberries will undoubtedly need thinning out, the branches that are drooping to the ground will be cut back to a point where there is a lateral growing upwards, and the centre shoots will be removed so as to make the bush more open.
They are always laid just above the impervious soil layer and then covered with clinkers or coarse brick rubble, so as to prevent the cracks in between the pipes being sealed up with clay particles.
The commercial growers, who market their soft fruits, have of course to pick on the unripe side, for ripening continues even after the fruits have been removed from the plants or trees. He has also to study the question of varieties, for there are some kinds which keep whole and travel long distances far better than others.
With raspberries, it is a question of cutting out all the old wood and retaining the new, though, if the canes are stunted, one can suspect virus troubles, and then it will be best to scrap the rows and start all over again.
Every effort should be made to trace any agricultural drainage system that may have been laid down years ago, for where there are agricultural drains these should be kept rodded, for it is easy for them to get blocked up by the roots of plants.
Trees that are reverted will have to be dug out and burnt. Neglected redcurrants must also be pruned, but here it is a question of retaining the main branches to form a cup-shaped tree and to cut back the side growths to within an inch or two of their base. Gooseberries will undoubtedly need thinning out, the branches that are drooping to the ground will be cut back to a point where there is a lateral growing upwards, and the centre shoots will be removed so as to make the bush more open.
They are always laid just above the impervious soil layer and then covered with clinkers or coarse brick rubble, so as to prevent the cracks in between the pipes being sealed up with clay particles.
The commercial growers, who market their soft fruits, have of course to pick on the unripe side, for ripening continues even after the fruits have been removed from the plants or trees. He has also to study the question of varieties, for there are some kinds which keep whole and travel long distances far better than others.
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To shield a young fruit tree that you have just planted in your garden from rodents, encircle it with high collar of wire mesh called hardware cloth.
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