As a garden designer I spend a lot of time in other people’s gardens. This year, it strikes me that the gardens of Oxfordshire are laden with fruit – especially apples.

There’s no doubt in my mind, English apples are the best in the world and I often encourage my clients to plant apple trees, even in the smallest of gardens. They have two seasons of interest and growing your own fruit is hugely rewarding.

The trees can be trained as an espalier or fan shape against a fence or wall. Or for a really small space, try growing a stepover apple. As the name suggests, the stepover is a low-growing, horizontally-trained tree that can literally be stepped over. Stepovers can be planted along an edge of a path or a bed, and make an excellent divider on an allotment or fruit garden.

The best time to plant trees is in mid-November once they are dormant. Bare root trees offer the best value for money, and you might find them in the garden centres just before they stock up with Christmas decorations.

James Grieve is a particularly reliable early eating apple, and the Blenheim Orange Pippin, first grown here in Woodstock, is good for both eating and cooking. This year’s apple harvest is set to be one of the biggest and best tasting ever. The good weather and late summer heat has upped the sugar levels in the fruit, making it large and sweet. Which begs the question, what to do with the crop? Leaving it on the tree or on the ground to rot is a terrible waste.

A classic combination is with the humble blackberry. I can’t remember a more plentiful season for blackberries. But, if you haven’t already scrambled about in a hedgerow battling thorns, nettles and wasps, for the prized fruit – then this weekend might be your last opportunity to pick the final blackberries of the season. They freeze easily and are all ready to combine with Bramley apples for delicious crumbles and pies, a tasty reminder of the summer for the winter.

Or how about a tipple to cheer along the long cold months ahead? Blackberry and apple gin is a personal favourite, especially as it’s so easy. Simply add 300g granulated sugar, a cored, peeled chopped apple and 250g blackberries to 750mls of gin in sterilized bottles. Just before Christmas, strain off the alcohol and eat the fruit with ice cream or yoghurt. Drink the gin!

Of course, cider is the traditional apple drink, and windfalls are perfect for cider making. I’ve got a friend who assures me that making cider is as easy as apple pie. But I once witnessed her pounding and pressing hundreds of apples and have to report that the process is not for the faint-hearted. It is unbelievably messy and has to take place in the garden to avoid plastering the kitchen ceilings and walls with bits of browning apple.

I confess that disastrous episodes in my teenage years have left me with an aversion to the stuff. I think I’ll stick to the gin! I wonder if it counts as one of my five a day?