Fruit bush planting question

[closetleftie]

Leftie Towers was bought from a caravanner. The corner of the front garden where it stood had a Leylanii hedge round it. We don't have a caravan.

Pretty soon after moving in just over a year ago we had the hedge dug up and chipped. The chippings wre spread over the weedy ground underneath where the caravan used to be.

The corner is south-facing and Mrs L fancies soft fruit bushes there. So I have over the weekend bought about a dozen 2l pots with various berries in them. Is the following plan sensible?

1. Put up a trellis of stakes and wire.

2. Dig holes though the 6 inch layer of mulch into the soil. Fill with compost.

3. Plant the bushes so that the top of the rootball is level with the interface between soil and chippings (if I can tell where that is).

4. Put the mulch back. The youngish bushes will therefore be covered in mulch to just below the leaves.

5. Wait.

OK?

[perpetual dan]

Nice big holes for plenty of compost. Some fruit bushes, e.g. blackcurrant, like a layer of manure on top of the soil.
6 inches of mulch on previously exposed stem / trunk I'm not so sure about. They might prefer a bit of air under their leaves and around the trunk.

[Regulator]

You need to find out what sort of soil each of the fruits requires.  Try the RHS web-site. 

Some, such as blueberries, require an acid soil and should be OK with the fir chippings. The non-ericacaeous plants may not appreciate the acid soil.

As Dan says, the plants won't like mulch up against their stems.  The general rule is that you put mulch round plants but not onto woody areas.  The mulch can cause rot in bark.

[closetleftie]

Ta. Will leave some space around the stems then. The soil is fairly clay-ey and my compost contains a fair bit of wood ash, which I am told makes it alkaline. I'll plant the bushes and see what happens.

The two blueberries are already in large pots with ericaceous compost either side of the front door.