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Monty Don's favourite fruit
Monty Don reveals 13 of his favourite fruit crops to grow.
A fruit tree or bush is worth its weight in gold in the garden, providing ornamental value all year round, an annual supply of delicious fruit, as well as food and shelter for wildlife. We caught up with Monty Don to discover his pick of edible fruit crops – including gooseberries, pears and even quince – which can be grown in even the smallest of gardens.
Blackcurrant 'Boskoop Giant'
Plants grow up to 1.8m and bear sweet berries from July. Best suited to large, sheltered plots.
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Gooseberry 'Whinham's Industry'
Grows well in shade and on heavy soil. It forms red berries that are ready to pick in late-July.
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Raspberry 'Malling Jewel'
An early fruiting raspberry that crops from the beginning of July, this variety bears firm, luscious, dark-red berries in small clusters. It also has good tolerance to virus infections.
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Redcurrant 'Laxton's Number One'
Strong growing, good flavoured and high yielding. The strings of currants usually ripen in mid-July and are a glossy red.
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Strawberry 'Mara des Bois'
A cross between modern and wild strawberries, it has the advantage of fruiting from July to October, rather than just June and July. Berries are small, but tasty.
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Whitecurrant 'Versailles Blanche'
Differing from redcurrants only in colour, this very reliable white version has pleasantly sweet, clear juice. It makes a vigorous, upright bush, and is a heavy cropper.
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Cherry 'Morello'
Morello cherries are sour or acid cherries with dark juice. Use for cooking or for jam.
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Crab apple Malus x zumi var. calocarpa 'Golden Hornet'
The decorative yellow fruits can be cooked to make jelly.
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Peach 'Peregrine'
A reliable variety, and produces a high yield of white-fleshed, juicy, crimson-skinned fruit.
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Pear 'Doyenne du Comice'
The best tasting dessert pear. Grow near 'Beth' or 'Concorde' to ensure pollination and cropping.
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Plum 'Victoria'
Heavy crops of the large pink and yellow fruit ripen in late August. This variety is self-fertile, so can be grown on its own.
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Fig 'Brown Turkey'
This is the hardiest, most reliable and heaviest cropping variety of fig tree in northern Europe.
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Quince 'Leskovac'
This fruit has a unique, subtle fragrance that will perfume the garden before it's eaten. It can be made into jellies and, when combined with apples, used as a pie-filling. Quince trees will grow up to 3.7m tall.
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