Have you ever considered cultivating your own fruit and veggies? If you have, you’re probably already well aware that your own produce is highly beneficial for the environment, and for your family.
Read about the best 10 fruits to grow on your decking for a fruitful outdoor space.
Who doesn’t want to come back in from the garden with a huge basket of ripe, fresh fruits and vegetables to enjoy with the family?
Here are just some of the many reasons growing your own is a great idea:
- Lower plastic use (avoiding plastic wrapping on produce)
- Avoiding the air miles used to bring produce to local supermarkets
- Control over what your veggies are grown in
- Avoiding chemical pesticides
- Choice of growing rare fruits and vegetables you may not get in the shops
- The pleasure of growing your own
- Enjoying a sustainable way of consuming fresh produce
- Children love to get involved in growing fruit and veg
- Creating a beautiful looking garden full of colour is great for the overall look of your outdoor space
These are just some of the benefits of growing your own at home.
If you are seriously thinking about growing your own, a really great starting point is growing fruit on your decking.
Your decking is a lovely place to grow fruit visually, because it can create that exotic veranda feel, especially with vined fruits.
Additionally, the distance between your decking and your kitchen means harvesting and maintenance isn’t too much of a stretch. If you have a covered decking, you have an even easier job when the weather is less than favourable.
Are you set up with a lovely decking area and you’d like to know what to grow there? Here are our top 10 fruits to grow on your decking:
Apples
You might be quite surprised to know that you can grow apples right on your decking. Apples can grow extremely well in pots of about 50 centimetres, but choose a suitable variety.
You can find out the best types of apples to grow on your decking by asking the garden centre staff who will be happy to help.
Blueberries
Blueberries are really pretty when blooming and look beautiful well into the Autumn. With around a 30cm pot, bit of shelter and some bright light, they do well on decking.
The only issue is stopping wildlife stealing the berries so that you get to enjoy them first!
Cherries
Cherries produce an amazing blossom and a beautiful leaf display come Autumn.
The sweeter you want your cherry variety to be, the sunnier you’ll need their spot on your decking to be. They require a pot of about 60 centimetres to grow happily.
Figs
In a pot of about 40 centimetres figs will do well on your decking. They love the warmth and sunshine and require a lot of watering in hot weather.
The payoff is sweet, delicious figs to eat fresh, bake or turn into jam. You can find an amazing fig jam recipe here.
Peaches
Peaches are a wonderful decking fruit, but you do have to put a bit of effort into their most vulnerable stage – the flowering stage.
Frost will kill the flowers and that will then mean you get no fruit. During frosts you must cover the plant in fleece. Otherwise, the plants are very easy to care for and only need upgrading to new pots every couple of years.
Raspberries
The best part of growing raspberries on your decking is that not only can you grow them in Summer, but you can grow them in Winter.
Different varieties fruit at different times of the year so if you want to have some sweet fruits growing in Winter, then raspberries are a great choice.
Strawberries
One of the worlds favourite fruit flavours, the strawberry, is actually one of the easiest fruits to grow too.
You can use any sized container as long as it is at least 10 cm or more deep.
You can even grow strawberries in baskets or window boxes if you want, so they could be ideal for utilising raised space.
Grapes
For a stunning fruit on your decking, grapes are a great choice. You can grow them on a trellis, or train them to go across the beams of your decking cover.
To find out everything about growing grapes in a UK garden, take a look at this article from UK green-fingered hunk, Alan Titchmarsh.
Nectarines
For those delicious bursts of citrus we all love in summer, nectarines are a great choice for your decking grow your own project.
Pears
You don’t need to grow pears in a large plot at all. Instead you can grow pears in containers on your decking.
Even better, you can plant them any time of the year so there’s no need to plan a spring planting session.
Conclusion
With all of the fruits we have suggested, and any other you choose to try out, do think carefully about your potting ingredients.
Choosing peat-free compost (and ideally making your own) is a really great idea. In addition, avoiding chemical pest sprays and fertiliser is really important.
For your health, the environment and for the flavour of your fruits it is beneficial to use organic and natural products only.
Hopefully our 10 decking fruit suggestions have inspired you to get growing your own soon. If you are totally new to growing fruit, why not start by cultivating a couple of easy types.
Once you have the hang of those, you can expand your fruit growing repertoire. Soon enough, you’ll be growing stunning and delicious homegrown fruits on your decking that the whole family can enjoy.
Would you like more tips on getting the perfect decking? Take a look at our handy Wezaggle blog, with a decking section that is packed full of great tips.