Fruit cage advice.

An overwinter job this year is to build a fruit cage and I dont want to be thinking in 2 years time.."I should have made the walkway/beds wider/narrower." I want to make the most efficient use of space as is possible, I can make an educated guess by looking around other plots fruit bushes on site but thought I would ask here anyway to get the best of both.

Overall height will be around 6.5-7ft and I will be growing mainly Raspberries with Black & Red currants.

What width of beds do these plants require as a minimum for decent growth and crop and will that width mean that foliage will encroach onto the walkway space, and what would be the minimum required walkway width?

Are there any special considerations/tips I should take into account with a fruit cage?

And is it ok to fill the rest of the beds at the base of the plants with strawberries?

Any help or guidance much appreciated.

Steve...

 

It's rather difficult to envisage just whaqt you are aiming for Steve. The walkways - are you having them in the cage or do they run beside it?
For a row of currant bushes I'd suggest that you need a minimum width of at least 5 feet to allow access to both sides of the bushes.
I don't see any problem with the strawberries - they're shallow rooted and shouldn't rob the deeper rooted bushes of much nutrients.
Have you thought about planting bushes and strawberries through membrane and covering with bark chips as it would cut down on weeding though in the case of rasps you'd need to allow a sufficient opening for new canes every year.