POTTY ABOUT STRAWBERRIES

This month David Patch turns his attention to growing succulent strawberries in pots, offering useful practical tips and recommendations for some choice varieties

- David Patch

Some fruit respond well to growing in a container and this allows us to fit extra plants into our gardens if they are already full. Pots can help make temporary use of a sunny patio to extend the fruit garden, or get new plants off to a head start for an extra early crop. Strawberries fall into this category and this month we will look how to use pots and troughs to grow this quintessential taste of the British summer.

If you are growing strawberries in pots or containers, it's unlikely that you will end up with enough fruit to be making vats of jam. Instead, a realistic aim should be to have enough plants to provide a few fruits for eating fresh every couple of days for as much of the summer as possible. It's the small daily pleasures that bring me the most joy. To eat just a couple of fresh berries, warm from the sun through the height of the summer is surely the fruit grower's equivalent.

PICKING YOUR POTS