Allotments 4 All

An overwinter job this year is to build a fruit cage and I dont want to be thinking in 2 years time.."I should have made the walkway/beds wider/narrower." I want to make the most efficient use of space as is possible, I can make an educated guess by looking around other plots fruit bushes on site but thought I would ask here anyway to get the best of both.

Overall height will be around 6.5-7ft and I will be growing mainly Raspberries with Black & Red currants.

What width of beds do these plants require as a minimum for decent growth and crop and will that width mean that foliage will encroach onto the walkway space, and what would be the minimum required walkway width?

Are there any special considerations/tips I should take into account with a fruit cage?

And is it ok to fill the rest of the beds at the base of the plants with strawberries?

Any help or guidance much appreciated.

Steve...:)

A raspberry row, depending on the variety and of course the soil, will usually need about 2 or 3 feet width in which to grow. You will need about 2 ft each side for access (picking pruning etc).
If your raspberry row is at all successful, (and you don't want to plan for failure) then after the first two summers you will have a struggle to keep it down to the dimensions above and ruthless use of the hoe will be necessary.
Nothing much survives long-term at ground level in a good healthy raspberry row however it can be difficult to establish a new row from bare-root transplants and some shade and/or mulch can help for the first season in lieu of watering.
Black currants also are surface rooters and benefit from mulch and top-tressings of FYM throughout their lives (i.e. don't ever underplant), however birds are not usually much of a problem, so I don't net mine.
Redcurrants are easier all round except that they are complete blackbird magnets. You could underplant them somewhat for the first year or two.
Row widths for red and black currants depend on your pruning policy. I keep my blackcurrants well pruned and they would fit the raspberry row dimensions above OK, but other people like to have very big bushes. Red currants very much similar dimensions but they can of course be trained. Training is extra work but can make them easier to pick.

As said above. I have a full fruit cage and have 2ft paths between rows, but after a hard pruning i was unable to get access to the paths this year. Luckily im set to move the fruit and cage this coming fall and plan on at least doubleing the size of my paths. Saying that, i did put a lot of old chicken poo round all my fruit this year and saw a massive increase in vegetive growth anyway, the fruits been good and plentyfull still.

Good luck with Fruit cage, there great once you get your head round the annual mantainence.

ATB DOG