When a good opportunity presents itself you need to take advantage of it. After doing a bit of research I realised two things:
- Aldi’s prices on fruit plants was significantly lower than anywhere else
- Aldi was only going to offer the fruit plant range for a few weeks
So if I wanted to get any fruit plants at the aggressive price point that Aldi was offering I had to do it there and then. So I did.
I bought a total of 4 different fruit plants:
- Green gooseberry
- Autumn raspberry
- Blackcurrant
- Blackberry (thorn free)
My back garden is fairly well sheltered so I chose to plant the four plants beside the tallest of the walls. I spaced them out quite a bit as I had the space and I’ve seen how big some of them can grow. Whether these ones will grow or not, however, is anyone’s guess. The overall quality of the soil isn’t stellar and I suspect it could do with a bit of TLC. Either way I’ll find out over the next few months. If they wither up and die I’ll know I’ve failed!
The little herb garden seems to be flourishing, so maybe the soil isn’t too bad, though I suspect that the herbs are getting most of their sustenance from the compost that went in with them.
Get some cardboard (from Aldi they have loads of it ) and lay it overlapping round those little fruit bushes. Over the top shove some wool shreddings/torn up fleece and then some compost or better woodchips from a tree surgeon, bit if a push in Ireland I know as trees are sparse to say the last. If not doable then buy a bag of compost the cheaper the better and use that as the mulch.
Come the spring you will i guarantee it see the benefits of this action taken before winter sets in.