You can grow fruit trees and bushes in your borders, in the veg plot and even in pots but make sure to choose disease-resistant varieties to give your plants their best shot.

Most fruit likes a sunny, sheltered position in soil that never either dries out or gets waterlogged, and is not too limey – around pH6-7 is ideal.

If your soil is very sandy or heavy clay, dig in lots of bulky organic matter such as garden compost before planting. This improves sandy soil’s ability to hold water and nutrients, and opens up heavy soil so the roots can penetrate more easily.

Fruit plants can tolerate a surprising amount of damage. Birds are the only pests likely to completely destroy your crop. Shut them out with netting, but keep it taut so your little feathered friends don’t get trapped.

Strawberries are the taste of an English summer; picking and eating the ripe, red sun-warmed berries straight from the plant is a real treat - and much cheaper than buying the mass-produced varieties from the supermarket. Most garden centres stock a reasonable range of fruit, though they don’t always have the best varieties. Many mail-order seed companies also sell fruit and, though the choice is usually very limited, they often promote new varieties. For the best choice, buy from a specialist fruit nursery.

The best time to buy and plant is when the bushes aren't growing, but the soil isn’t too cold: mid-October to mid-December and late February to early April. This is when mail-order nurseries supply bare-rooted plants – these have been lifted from the ground, the soil shaken off, and the roots wrapped up before despatch.

You must get these plants back in the ground within a few days of their arrival, and keep the roots moist at all times. In late spring and summer, container-grown fruit will be available at garden centres. These can stay in their pots until you’re ready to plant them, provided you keep them watered.