As the time for planting many deciduous trees and shrubs approaches, how about planting a hedge in the gardens - but this time a fruit hedge. We see and read about ornamental hedges of roses, lavenders and other flowering species, yet hardly ever hear about a hedge of apples or pears, or better still of gooseberries. This, the earliest of all fruits to ripen, makes a very good barrier. Nothing will penetrate an established row of gooseberries, and a crop can be picked each year, thus making the double advantage over more usual hedges.

I know of one such hedge that is certainly more than forty years old and still crops annually, never pruned except by trimming back every few years. Most varieties of the sixty that I know of are suitable for hedge work, the drooping "Green Gem" is not ideal but others are, and if mixed with Red Currants one gets two fruits each summer. Both can be cut back without affecting the crop, which is, of course, best on the edges of the barrier. It’s nearly impossible to pick gooseberries from inside a dense hedge. Plant hardwood cuttings of the soft fruits, "Red Lake" and "Leveller" a foot apart in November. These make the ideal hedge in a few years and keep cats and others out of the garden.