Best-ever berries

Brambleberries encompass blackberry hybrids such as boysenberry, loganberry and lawtonberry. Lush, juicy and wonderfully abundant, they’re a refreshing snack to forage and enjoy straight from the garden. You rarely see them for sale, though – their soft fruit bruises easily and doesn’t keep well. So, if you want to experience a summer of sweet, home-grown brambles, planting your own is the way to go. Winter is the ideal time to get started. Interested in giving them a go? Start by selecting the best variety:

Choosing a variety

•  Every brambleberry has subtle differences in growth habit and fruit features.
•  Most brambles are thorny, with boysenberry and silvanberry being especially thorny. There are thornless varieties of loganberry and youngberry – the trade-off is that they tend to be less productive.
• For a raspberry-esque taste, try loganberry or tayberry. For blackberry-like fruit, try marionberry or youngberry.

Sweet perfection

Raspberry plants will survive with minimal care, but with a little extra love, you’ll have a bumper crop, writes Phil Dudman

There’s something magical about wandering into the garden and picking a handful of sun-warmed raspberries – plump, perfumed and deliciously sweet. Raspberries trace their origins to the cool woodland edges of Europe and temperate Asia. Traditional varieties thrive in cooler regions of Australia, but there are a handful of low-chill types that will grow well in warmer areas. Plus, there are native raspberry species that crop heavily in humid climates. Raspberries are surprisingly tough plants that will fruit with very little care, but with a bit of effort you’ll have dramatically better fruit, and more of it.

To learn more about growing brambleberries and raspberries, plus plenty of troubleshooting tips for sweet strawberries, get your copy of the June issue of ABC Gardening Australia magazine, on sale now!

Images: Connie Cao, iStock