Japanese wineberry

Japanese wineberry

• Position: full sun
• Soil: fertile, well-drained soil
• Rate of growth: fast-growing
• Other features: softly hairy, bare stems look good in winter
• Hardiness: fully hardy
  
  Still quite rare here in the UK, but hopefully that will all change quite soon. These incredibly sweet, orange red to dark red berries are delicious if picked and eaten straight from the bush when they ripen in August, or can be cooked up in the same way as you would raspberries (which they are closely related to). They come on a large, deciduous bush that is easy to grow, although you will get the best fruit when it is trained against a sunny, south-facing wall or fence.
  
  
• Garden care: Prepare the planting area well, removing all perennial weeds and adding plenty of well-rotted garden compost or manure. Plant canes 45cm (18in) apart in a trench 8cm (3in) deep, carefully spreading out the roots and backfilling with soil.