Good size for berry beds?

[GeorgiaGirl]

Hmm... may I ask an offshoot question? It seems that everyone has specific beds for their berries. I planted 10 blueberrry bushes and 4 blackberry but I incorporated them into the landscaping... i.e. I didn't create specific beds for them (certainly not raised beds) although I did amend the soil well before planting.

Is there a reason everyone seems to have their berries in specific beds? I know some berries can tend to spread and I have my blackberries in an area where it will be easy to keep them in check, but I'm wondering if I did something wrong... I do have strawberries in their own little "island" surrounded by sidewalk... but nothing else is in a formal cordoned-off bed.

[hendi_alex]

I think that incorporating berries into a naturalized landscape is the absolute best approach, if you can have moderate to good success doing that. My ground is so dry and so sandy poor, with so much competition from the roots of oaks and other large trees, that switching to dedicated beds was the only way that I've had good success. Most of my blueberry bushes are in the ground as part of the landscape and they do fine in those locations.

[GeorgiaGirl]

Thanks, Alex - so far the blueberries I planted last fall are thriving... I think it's because they're in a formerly pine-forest area so the soil is rich/foresty and also naturally acidic. We do have high clay content here, but apparently it's enough to keep the roots moist but still with a good amount of natural organic material and plenty of earthworms doing their work. The blackberries were just planted recently... we shall see how they do..

[applestar]

My blackberries are "walking" out of their designated area.
I'll have to be a bit more aggressive about pruning them from here on out, but I wanted them to have the chance to grow and establish. The canes that arched over and touched ground have basically ground-layered and rooted. I cut them off the mother plants earlier this spring and I'm going to start another patch with these babies.

I used to have the wild terribly thorny blackberries but these are thornless and are easier to deal with.

As for my blueberries, I use the branches from the Christmas tree to much them, and also collect and use pine needles.