🍇 Loganberry and tayberry

Loganberries and tayberries are hybrid berries, crosses between raspberries and blackberries, with large, aromatic, richly flavoured fruits that are too soft to travel and so are rarely seen in the shops. They are excellent for the home garden, and easier to grow than most berries.

Plants are vigorous and are trained like blackberries on a wall or wires. Thornless forms are available. They tolerate partial shade and heavy soils, and crop reliably even in poor summers.

Varieties to try

Tayberry (large, sweet, aromatic)Buckingham Tayberry (thornless)LY654 loganberry (heavy, thornless)Tummelberry (very hardy and sweet)Sunberry (dark, sweet)

Plant bare-root canes between November and March in fertile, well-drained soil in sun or partial shade, 2–3 m apart. Dig in plenty of compost, and set up a wire support system with wires at 1 m, 1.5 m and 1.8 m.

Cut canes to 25 cm after planting. Mulch generously and water in. These are vigorous, so leave plenty of room for growth, or train against a fence.

Top tips

• Set up wires first.
• Cut canes to 25 cm.
• Allow 2–3 m each.
• Mulch well.

Water in dry spells and mulch each spring. Feed with a general fertiliser. Tie in new canes as they grow, separating this year’s growth from last year’s fruiting canes, as with blackberries.

After fruiting, cut all old canes to the ground and tie in the new ones. Birds and wasps are the main pests, and cane spot may appear in wet seasons. Thin new canes to 6–8 per plant.

Top tips

• Tie in new canes regularly.
• Cut out fruited canes after harvest.
• Thin to 6–8 canes.
• Mulch every spring.

Watch out for

Birds and waspsRaspberry beetleCane spotBotrytis in wet summers

Pick fruits when they are fully coloured, deep red-purple, and they come away from the plant easily, from July to August. They are soft, so pick carefully, and use shallow containers. Fruit is best when slightly overripe, when the flavour is richest.

Pick every 2–3 days. Fruit does not travel well, so eat or process quickly.

Loganberries ripen to a deep red-purple and will taste sharper than tayberries, which are sweeter when fully ripe and a dark crimson. Because the cores come away with the fruit, they are easier to use than blackberries, and they do not need hulling.

Top tips

• Pick when deep purple-red.
• Use shallow trays.
• Pick every 2–3 days.
• Process quickly.

Eat fresh with cream, or cook in pies, tarts, jams, sauces and ice creams. The flavour is more intense and tart than raspberries; it holds well in baking. Tayberry jam is exceptional.

Fresh fruit lasts 1–2 days in the fridge. Freeze whole on trays and bag for a year. Make jam with surplus.

Top tips

• Freeze on trays.
• Make jam.
• Eat the day you pick.
• Serve with cream.