Summer certainly has its benefits. The days are hot but the evenings are still warm. Plants are still flowering and the lawns are looking green, really green. But the biggest benefit of all is enjoying the fruits of your labour and this time of year stone fruits are in big supply.

Peaches, apricots, plums, nectarines, loquats and cherries. Left alone to ripen on the tree the sugars concentrate and give a sweeter, maturer flavour. They also retain more moisture and hence their flesh becomes juicier. Shop bought stone fruits are usually picked well before they're ripened and brought to maturity unnaturally leaving the fruit tasteless and sometimes quite sour.

While most people prefer not to grow their own due to lack of space or perhaps the abundant yields you're likely to get, there is a great alternative. Many nurseries now sell grafted stock which means you could have a peach, nectarine and plum all on the same tree. Or if you only like peaches you could get a grafted plant that has 2 or more different varieties growing on it. Another alternative is to have a grafted plant that spreads the fruiting season so rather than dealing with an abundance for a short period one variety begins fruiting as another finishes.

These are great spacesavers and obviously limit the yield you're likely to deal with. It's also possible to grow them in a pot although they will need to be repotted every couple of years.

There's really no excuse for not having some variety of stone fruit in your garden and you're the one that will benefit from having them.