[MickyB]

Following a tasting session with a fellow plot holder I have just purchased a selection of berries consisting of Raspberry 'Autumn Bliss', 'Tadmor' and 'All Gold', Blackberry 'Reuben', Tayberry 'Buckingham' and a thornless Loganberry.

I plan to grow them along the boundary fence, can I plant them in position now or do I have to wait for the spring? If I have to wait for the spring what do I do with them in the mean time?

Any other growing advise always welcome.

[LilacSandy]

I presume they are pot grown if you have purchased them at this time of the year, and as such you can plant them out at any time, just keep well watered.

If you are growing them along a boundary fence you need to be aware that the raspberries in particular will spread along and outwards so if you have a neighbour you need to make sure that they are happy to have them spread.

[Sparkyrog]

If your planting pot grown plants ,planting now would be a good option as they will have time to develop a good root system ! Don't expect too much in the first year though 

[MickyB]

Thank you 

They are pot grown plants.

The fence is at the front of the plot and makes the boundary between my plot and the road, I set the fence about 1.5ft back from the front to give the manure trailer plenty of room to get by. I will plant 2ft to 3ft away from the neighbours plot to allow for the spread.

Do you think I would be better off putting the Raspberries somewhere else and just going with the Blackberries, Loganberries and Tayberries along the fence?

[Yorkie]

Although you can plant them now, to be honest I'd wait until we've had a decent amount of rain because putting them into such dry soil will make it so much harder for them to be kept watered and to establish happily.  It's easier to keep them watered in the pots at home.

[MickyB]

How hard are the berries to keep in check, I am planting them up against the fence and I want to be able to keep them under control and not have them spread everywhere.

[compostqueen]

It's pouring down with rain here today so that would be a good time    Blackberries take up a lot of space so make sure you give them enough room

Mine have taken ages to start fruiting properly, and last year I threatened it with being chucked on the bonfire if it didn't start fruiting.  It produced tonnes of fruit and I'm hoping for another good year. Mind you last year was very wet and it seemed to suit the soft fruit.  I feed mine with manure each year when they start showing signs of fruit

Good luck with yours 

[Trillium]

How hard are the berries to keep in check, I am planting them up against the fence and I want to be able to keep them under control and not have them spread everywhere.

If you're planting raspberries, you can stick in pieces of metal sheeting about 6-8" deep along the fence line since raspberries are shallow rooted. This usually keeps them in check. Blackberries don't root spread so much but the long canes will bend over and root everywhere they touch so you'll either need to keep the canes short to about 3-4 ft tall or tie them to any fencing