Planting soft fruit bushes

Now is the perfect time to increase your stock, says Ruth

WE are a household of fruitaholics and to my mind, nothing beats the tart deliciousness of W gooseberries and blackcurrants.

Gooseberries grow well in fertile, free-draining soil in a sunny site, and blackcurrants favour the same conditions but can tolerate partial shade.

Late winter is the perfect time to plant, providing the ground isn't waterlogged or frozen, and you can buy them container-grown or bare-root.

Put them in the ground at the same depth they were growing before. This will be the 'tide mark' of soil around the stem of bare root plants, or at the same depth as their containers.

Make sure you wear robust gardening gloves as their spines are sharp.

After planting, prune your gooseberry to a low-down outward-growing bud, creating an open shape that will develop fruiting spurs.