analysis333
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Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2010 7:24 am
Location: Australia

Growing Berries

So I am a newbie gardener and I got a small veggie garden in my back yard.
What are some good berries to grow ?
how long do they take too flower
what are the best conditions
are they vines or shrubs ext ??
any help would be greatly appreciated

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rainbowgardener
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Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Strawberries are probably the easiest. They are just little plants low to the ground. People generally just buy some strawberry plants and plant them. The plants are sold very cheap. Given a sunny spot and good (slightly acid) soil, they just take off. They will flower the first season, but it is usually said to clip those flowers off and not let it make berries the first year, so that the plants get established.

Next would be raspberries which are somewhere between a shrub and a vine. The shrub produces long woody canes. They are also very easy to grow, but you have to watch out for them spreading and taking over. Right now I have raspberry canes that popped up in my herb garden, that I'm going to have to move when it is warm enough. They don't even require full sun.

GeorgiaGirl
Senior Member
Posts: 228
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2009 2:08 pm
Location: Metro Atlanta, GA (zone 7)

I'd say grow the berries that are your favorite to eat!

I just planted 12 blueberry bushes this fall/winter... a big thing with blueberries is that they need acidic soil. Our soil here is naturally acidic so that wasn't a problem (still, I mulch with a layer of used coffee grounds then pine straw, and will be using an acidifying organic fertilizer, to make sure their soil stays happily acidic).

I don't know that blueberries are necessarily easiest to grow (guess I'll find out when they either survive or not!), but I absolutely LOVE blueberries, so that was first choice for me. I'm about to plant some raspberries and blackberries. Eventually I'll do strawberries too (for some reason, those intimidate me). Then I'll venture into lingonberries, wolfberries, and boysenberries (can ya tell I love berries??).

I bought super-cheap young berry bushes (they look more like little sticks in the ground right now), but I may splurge on one large/established blueberry shrub so I don't have to wait so long to enjoy fruit. I don't expect to have berries from my "sticks in the ground" for several years (it may happen sooner than that, but I want them to put their effort into growing, not producing, for a year or two).

Blueberries are shallow-rooted and they need fairly steady moisture, at least while they're becoming established, so that's something to keep in mind.

Also, (again, not sure whether this is blueberries or all berries) you need to plant at least two varieties to cross-pollinate. I believe even with self-fertile berries, if you plant more than one type you'll get more and better quality fruit. Plus you can get varieties that produce fruit early in the season, mid-season and late season so you have berries for a longer time period.

BTW, a great thing about berries (especially blueberries) is that they make beautiful landscaping plants! They're pretty throughout three seasons (and one variety I planted, Legacy, supposedly keeps its leaves during winter). You can plant them as a hedge or otherwise incorporate them into the landscape. Nothing beats landscaping that's beautiful and edible!!



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