Soft fruits for shade or part shade

I would like to grow soft fruits. I am thinking of blackberries, raspberries, currants, but open to suggestions and advice.

The main point is that I want to grow the fruits in a shaded or part shaded position.

In the more shaded position, I would be quite happy to grow blackberries or similar, creating (eventually) brambles. (Garden security).

I would like to start off growing soft fruits by obtaining plants. I won't be growing from seed.

What are thoughts on some of he best soft fruits for shade please and as a second question, which soft fruits tend to grow most quickly, and which tend to be slow to grow. Ideally I would like to see strong growth this year from any pot-grown plants.

Thankyou.

 

I think they were all grow in some shade. Fruiting is probably less than in a sunny position and dependant on the amount of shade.

I was going to suggest a thornless blackberry but that wouldn’t turn give you the security. I think they fruit less if not trained but then you see wild brambles full of berries.

Raspberries and blackberries are quick to grow. New fruiting canes grow each season but then you cut down old fruited canes to encourage the next years to grow.

From memory currants aren’t slow to start fruiting. Also you can buy plants ready to fruit. I’ve grown blackcurrants from cuttings , years ago, and I don’t think it was more than a few years before I was getting a crop

 

You get out what you give....good soil prep is key. Black currants and raspberries prefer a slightly acidic soil that doesn't dry out too much in summer. I really, really would advise against planting blackberries, thornless or otherwise. Unless you can be sure of harvesting the fruit before the birds do, you'll end up with a garden full of bramble seedlings. They're no fun at all to try to control!

 

Thankyou, @noisette47. I do have an area that doesn't dry out much in summer. I don't mind at all the birds taking the fruit. It is a contained, walled area that is the most shady, I would be happy to have the blackberries taken charge! Walled not walked! Auto correct fail...

 

We have blackcurrants, redcurrants and gooseberries growing by a very old bramley apple tree and a Chinese gooseberry over them as it scrambles up a frame. They all fruit very well but we do have to be on our toes with the red currants as the blackbirds love them but they leave the black ones.

 

Strawberries are said to be ok for semi shade and we just bought some potted runners the other day from a local garden center, just 1.49 each, which should give some fruit this year.

If you can get some Autumn fruiting Raspberries they should again give some fruit this year.
Same if your can still find some Long Cane Summer fruiting ones they will also give you some fruit this summer.

Most others wil need to spend this year growing their stems for fruiting next year.

 

I swapped growing veg for growing soft fruits in my raised beds as the combination of pigeons and caterpillars decimated any veg I grew.

I have 3 blackcurrant bushes, one of which is a little shaded, they do very well. I froze 6.5Kg from them last year. Ben Conan is about 5ft high and wide. Ben Sarek is about 4ft x 4ft with larger fruits and is the variety grown for Ribena.

I grow Summer and Autumn raspberries. Some canes of each type are shaded, but they seem to fruit almost as well as those in full sun.

I have blueberries, but they're all in full sun. They also do very well.

I do grow strawberries, but rarely get one to eat - they're slug/snail food :(

Initially I spent quite a bit on decent netting and frames, but now none of the above are netted and I have no problem with birds taking the berries.
I've found that a CD hung by a SINGLE thread will spin in the slightest breeze and deter all birds. If you hang the CD in a loop, it won't spin and that seems to be the key.
I hang about a dozen or so around the 30ft x 30ft area.
I put them up after the fruits appear and remove them as soon as everything is harvested.

My favourite of all though is my thornless Blackberry Waldo that I grow on the fence by the patio.
It looks good, the berries are very large and have an excellent flavour and perfume - and no core!
It's well behaved. The seeds I'm guessing are not fertile as no other plants have ever appeared, nor have I had any suckers.
I had 14Kg from it last year

A couple of CD's hanging on a tree just out of sight keeps the birds off too.

 

Thankyou, @Butterfly6, I missed your comment earlier: I did not refresh the screen, so only saw the second comment. Sorry for that Would you say some of those fruits can be left to their own devices more than others? Thanks.

 

Thankyou. @On the Levels, interesting about the currants and birds. Would you say the blackcurrants need more light (not for! Autocorrect fail again) than the redcurrants? Which of your fruits are happiest to be left mostly to their own devices? I am not too concerned if the fruiting is not brilliant, because I want to grow the fruits primarily to cover ground and walls in a shady area which is walled. I cannot be sure when I can go into the area. Some weeks are difficult, due to 'local issues'. (Non gardening issues, eg human behaviour nearby).

 

Thankyou @ricky101, especially for the info on raspberries. Would you say raspberries are one of the most shade-tolerant fruits that you grow?
I am not sure strawberries would work too well, unless they could scramble up walls and add more bulk, but I could try strawberries in another area.

 

Thankyou. @Pete8, and lovely pics of your garden - it looks so good.
Good advice re the pigeons and caterpillars re veg gardening. I am beginning to think fruit might be better in my garden areas.

Could you say how many hours sun your most shaded fruit receive?

Would you say raspberries seem to do the best of all your fruits in shade? I am trying to prioritize which fruits to try for the most shaded areas.

You advice about a CD hung by a SINGLE thread and its spin capacity is helpful too. Would a single thread of string or twine be ok, or would something like cotton thread be better?

I would like the birds to have access to some of the fruits, eventually.

Blackberry Waldo sounds very tasty! Would blackberry in general be a suitable candidate for leaving to its own devices, just in terms of creating a bulky shrubbery?

I am not yet sure how frequently I will be able to access the walled area, so I probably need a fruit that is more 'Hands-off' than others. Thankyou.

 

Now that is interesting, @Pete8. I have a thornless blackberry and the last few years have been a nightmare with brambles appearing all over the garden. Perhaps I've been wrongly blaming the birds and the cultivated one and they're finding wild fruits somewhere? You've got good taste in black currants:-) I grew those two varieties and was always impressed by fruits the size of small cherries!

 

Don't know about the shade tollerance of Raspberries though most of ours do not get direct Sun after about 2.30pm. but still give a good crop.

Vertical Strawberries, no problem, plenty of planters and pouches for walls.

The links below might help you fruiting choices.

10 of the best fruit crops for shade

The Best Fruit Plants & Fruit Trees for Shady Areas - Chris Bowers & Sons

 

Thanks @ClematisDbee
It depends on the season re the amount of sun the shaded ones get - almost none in winter. By mid-summer there is one blackcurrant that gets little direct sun and about 6 out of 30ish autumn raspberry canes are in shade most of the time.
In both cases they produce about 75% of what the others produce and both have laxer growth so are less robust than those that get good sun.

I hang the CDs using the cheap brown garden twine, not the plastic stuff as it would be too rigid.
Ordinary string is fine too. I think a cotton thread would be too fragile.

I'd not choose a blackberry to be left to its own devices unless it was in some very wild sort of space.
If you want a spikey deterrent, pyracantha (firethorn) would work and also provide huge amounts of nectar for bees and abundant berries loved by blackbirds.
Blackberries fruit on the canes produced the previous year, so every year I remove all the old canes in late summer and tie in the new canes for the following year. It only produces about 6-7 new canes a year, but that's plenty.

 

Two other options are wild/alpine strawberries which love shady areas and wine berries which do well and aren't touched by birds. The wine berry is very ornamental in the winter with bristly red stems and I love the taste of the fruit.

I wouldn't plant a thorny blackberry in a garden because they are a pain to deal with but wine berries are slightly less spike and a whole lot less vigorous.

Another suggestion is jostaberry, which is a hybrid cross between a blackcurrant and gooseberry, I think. It isn't as good as either on their own but is less prickly than a gooseberry.