When to plant bare rooted fruit bushes

[PamR]

Hi, I've just purchased assorted gooseberrys, raspberrys, blackberrys and red & black currents from Aldi (£2.49 for three assorted!!). They are bare rooted and although very standard varieties I thought they would make a good start for my new garden. We have got some very low nighttime tempretures due, and I'm wondering if it will be ok to plant them now, or if it would be better to hold off until the weather has improved?

[oldjerry]

Well Pam,(hello BTW!) we always reckoned that if you could get the spade in the ground,it would be fine.If you want to wait a day or two,cos the grounds too hard,stick their roots in some of that moist compost you are going to use when you plant them.You weren't going to bother with it cos your soils pretty good anyway?? never mind use sme damp soil\ straw\peat etc in a frostfree spot and keep them moist.That stuff from Aldi is so good we used to pot it up and sell it later in the year...Lidl stuff is VG too. Best Wishes.

[oldjerry]

Just remembered....not the Blueberries,they suck.

[Thomzo]

Hi Pam
If they've been in a warm warehouse/store recently then putting them outside might be a bit of a shock for them. If you've got somewhere sheltered then I'd pop them in a pot for a while, but be careful as a pot can freeze more quickly than the ground.

Zoe

[PamR]

Thanks for the advice, I think a tempory pot in the utility room is the answer for now. As for my soil oldjerry, to me it look great (it grows grass ok)...but then I've been used to pure london clay. Not got any homemade compost yet, only been here since August, so I guess I'll be looking for a supply of nice well rotted manure.
Thanks for the advice re Blueberries!
Pam