Those two layouts look equally good to me. Gooseberries certainly take up less space and are easier to pick without damaging your hands if they're grown as a cordon against a wall or fence (or even an espalier, which is unusual but works). Remember to mount the wires/canes a few inches off for ventilation otherwise they'll get mildew. And you can grow different varieties.
A fully-grown blackcurrant bush is a good four feet wide, unless you grow a smaller variety like Ben Sarek. And you need space to get between them as well. Ditto gooseberry bushes, with the added hazard of tearing your clothes/skin as you brush against them.
I repeat - autumn raspberries can be left outside the fruit cage as the birds seem less interested in them after the summer. And they're best grown in a block rather than a row; put a string round the outside of the patch about four feet up and that's all the support they need, unlike summer rasps which need a major fencing job.
The strawbs only need to be a foot apart but if you start off with bigger gaps you can allow each plant to make (only) one or two runners after they've fruited.
More compost: collect greenery from neighbours who don't use it. Add torn-up newspaper and shredded bills to the grass cuttings, kitchen waste etc. Collect the bags of leaves that council employees kindly leave lying around the streets in the autumn/winter and use it to make leaf mould.
Every time I have searched for gooseberry cordons I get images back of substantial structures, 2.4m high posts with the wire which seems a bit too much for a handful of plants at the moment. It is something that I would consider doing in the future. Are there simpler solutions?
So doing some rough numbers I could probably fit a patch of 5 x 8 strawberries in that spot assuming 1ft apart.
With the raspberries, why are they better in a block rather than a row? Is it for support between plants?
I already have half a dozen black bags full with leaves waiting to become leaf mould. But that is going to take a few months. Plus most of my current compost has been used up for the potato bed and would take me a while to make more since the compost refuses to heat up despite the right materials (almost).
I put down landscape fabric topped with wood chips in my fruit cage to suppress weeds. The weeds just grew on the fabric!!?? I have taken down the fruit cage now as the plants, blackcurrants, redcurrants and blueberries, have outgrown the cage and I do not have room for a larger one. At least I will be able to sort out the weeds easily now.
Mel, I noticed that as well and it seems to have happened where soil or a weed was dropped ontop of the fabric and then continued to grow.
I can only dream of summer up here Verdun. That one day in August where the sun actually shines in the north east of Scotland.
Hopefully I will be able to have a look at the possible layouts tomorrow when I can actually see the garden in the daylight. After that I will need to see how and what to do with the area where the cage is. A fruit tree could be interesting.
How easy and how much is it to set up a frame for growing the cordons? Do I really need 2.4m long posts?
Ooo blueberry sounds good. Didn't think of that one. How easy are they to grow and do they need much?
Blueberries are easy to grow but they do need ericatious soil or compost. I grow mine (you should always have two for better crops) in 2 foot by 2 foot by 2 foot deep pots and they thrive, producing an abundence of berries now that they are 3 years old. Down here in Cornwall they are left out through the winter without any problems what so ever.
I grow autumn fruiting raspberries & can confirm they need less cosseting than summer ones. I don't bother netting them and my supports consist of simple pole surrounds and (tough) twine or wire threaded round and through the patch of canes.
The main problem I have with autumn raspberries is the root runners which have to be ruthlessly pulled up and cut back every spring. They can be quite rampant if they like the conditions & I'm a little concerned you might end up with raspberries growing through your strawberries if they are only a couple of metres away.
I have to net strawbs against blackbirds - but I use a temporary low mini cage & just lift the netting off as I need to pick them. This cage is constructed round the plants just before the fruits ripen & removed when they've finished.
I've allowed 1.5m between my currant bushes and construct temporary individual cages around them as the fruits ripen. (At least that's the plan - they were new last season)
I'm also not a fan of landscape membrane as a weed suppressant on cultivated areas unless there are extenuating circumstances (per Busy Lizzie's case).
I prefer to prepare the soil in the whole area really, really well before planting & then use a thick (4") mulch of bark chippings around the currants and raspberries (my strawbs are in a separate bed). This does a good job of suppressing weed germination, makes the paths drier to walk on when harvesting, gradually breaks down to provide some slightly acid humus to the soil and also looks quite nice. It is easily scraped to one side when you need to dig out those runners or if you want to add extra compost / feed to the base of your plants.
I wouldn't use bark around the strawberries, however, as it could shelter slugs which will eat the fruit. I don't like straw either after I had one batch which contained loads of seeds & I grew a barley (whatever) field in my strawberry patch. Temporary cardboard collars sounds a good way to go.
Netting strawbs doesn't stop the voles who tunnel up from below to pinch the fruit - no solution (except my cat) found to this problem (yet)....
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
What type of straw should you use and where do you source it? Have you had a problem with cereal seed germination?
The one time I tried to use it I got a bale from a local country / equestrian wholesaler. I think it was barley straw and I think it was sold as suitable for rabbit / small animal bedding. Looked lovely & did a good job for the first couple of weeks - then I saw the green shoots where seed (obviously mixed up in the straw) had germinated. Within days the whole patch was starting to resemble a lawn! Made loads of work over several weeks weeding it.
I must have bought the wrong product but I don't know what the right one would be....
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
Posts
Those two layouts look equally good to me. Gooseberries certainly take up less space and are easier to pick without damaging your hands if they're grown as a cordon against a wall or fence (or even an espalier, which is unusual but works). Remember to mount the wires/canes a few inches off for ventilation otherwise they'll get mildew. And you can grow different varieties.
A fully-grown blackcurrant bush is a good four feet wide, unless you grow a smaller variety like Ben Sarek. And you need space to get between them as well. Ditto gooseberry bushes, with the added hazard of tearing your clothes/skin as you brush against them.
I repeat - autumn raspberries can be left outside the fruit cage as the birds seem less interested in them after the summer. And they're best grown in a block rather than a row; put a string round the outside of the patch about four feet up and that's all the support they need, unlike summer rasps which need a major fencing job.
The strawbs only need to be a foot apart but if you start off with bigger gaps you can allow each plant to make (only) one or two runners after they've fruited.
More compost: collect greenery from neighbours who don't use it. Add torn-up newspaper and shredded bills to the grass cuttings, kitchen waste etc. Collect the bags of leaves that council employees kindly leave lying around the streets in the autumn/winter and use it to make leaf mould.
Every time I have searched for gooseberry cordons I get images back of substantial structures, 2.4m high posts with the wire which seems a bit too much for a handful of plants at the moment. It is something that I would consider doing in the future. Are there simpler solutions?
So doing some rough numbers I could probably fit a patch of 5 x 8 strawberries in that spot assuming 1ft apart.
With the raspberries, why are they better in a block rather than a row? Is it for support between plants?
I already have half a dozen black bags full with leaves waiting to become leaf mould. But that is going to take a few months. Plus most of my current compost has been used up for the potato bed and would take me a while to make more since the compost refuses to heat up despite the right materials (almost).
I put down landscape fabric topped with wood chips in my fruit cage to suppress weeds. The weeds just grew on the fabric!!?? I have taken down the fruit cage now as the plants, blackcurrants, redcurrants and blueberries, have outgrown the cage and I do not have room for a larger one. At least I will be able to sort out the weeds easily now.
Mel, I noticed that as well and it seems to have happened where soil or a weed was dropped ontop of the fabric and then continued to grow.
I can only dream of summer up here Verdun.
That one day in August where the sun actually shines in the north east of Scotland. 
Hopefully I will be able to have a look at the possible layouts tomorrow when I can actually see the garden in the daylight.
After that I will need to see how and what to do with the area where the cage is. A fruit tree could be interesting.
How easy and how much is it to set up a frame for growing the cordons? Do I really need 2.4m long posts?
Ooo blueberry sounds good. Didn't think of that one. How easy are they to grow and do they need much?
Blueberries are easy to grow but they do need ericatious soil or compost. I grow mine (you should always have two for better crops) in 2 foot by 2 foot by 2 foot deep pots and they thrive, producing an abundence of berries now that they are 3 years old. Down here in Cornwall they are left out through the winter without any problems what so ever.
Hi Andy
I grow autumn fruiting raspberries & can confirm they need less cosseting than summer ones. I don't bother netting them and my supports consist of simple pole surrounds and (tough) twine or wire threaded round and through the patch of canes.
The main problem I have with autumn raspberries is the root runners which have to be ruthlessly pulled up and cut back every spring. They can be quite rampant if they like the conditions & I'm a little concerned you might end up with raspberries growing through your strawberries if they are only a couple of metres away.
I have to net strawbs against blackbirds - but I use a temporary low mini cage & just lift the netting off as I need to pick them. This cage is constructed round the plants just before the fruits ripen & removed when they've finished.
I've allowed 1.5m between my currant bushes and construct temporary individual cages around them as the fruits ripen. (At least that's the plan - they were new last season)
I'm also not a fan of landscape membrane as a weed suppressant on cultivated areas unless there are extenuating circumstances (per Busy Lizzie's case).
I prefer to prepare the soil in the whole area really, really well before planting & then use a thick (4") mulch of bark chippings around the currants and raspberries (my strawbs are in a separate bed). This does a good job of suppressing weed germination, makes the paths drier to walk on when harvesting, gradually breaks down to provide some slightly acid humus to the soil and also looks quite nice. It is easily scraped to one side when you need to dig out those runners or if you want to add extra compost / feed to the base of your plants.
I wouldn't use bark around the strawberries, however, as it could shelter slugs which will eat the fruit. I don't like straw either after I had one batch which contained loads of seeds & I grew a barley (whatever) field in my strawberry patch. Temporary cardboard collars sounds a good way to go.
Netting strawbs doesn't stop the voles who tunnel up from below to pinch the fruit
- no solution (except my cat) found to this problem (yet)....
Can I pick your brains (again
) Verdun?
What type of straw should you use and where do you source it? Have you had a problem with cereal seed germination?
The one time I tried to use it I got a bale from a local country / equestrian wholesaler. I think it was barley straw and I think it was sold as suitable for rabbit / small animal bedding. Looked lovely & did a good job for the first couple of weeks - then I saw the green shoots where seed (obviously mixed up in the straw) had germinated. Within days the whole patch was starting to resemble a lawn! Made loads of work over several weeks weeding it.
I must have bought the wrong product but I don't know what the right one would be....