Blueberries, Raspberries and Strawberry Question??

[WendyZ]

Hello...

I would love to have a blueberry, raspberry and strawberry patch. But I have no clue how to go about doing this. Are there any hints/tips you can pass along to get me started? I have an empty spot behind my DH's workshop that I thought about putting them. Is this something I could start this fall or is it a spring project? Does it matter how much sun the area gets?

Can you tell I am not a gardener???? I have no clue where to begin, but I would love to walk out and get my own berries!!!

Thanks for any help you offer....

 

[shrubber]

Blueberries
plant anytime from a container. they need acidic soil so prepare the area with a lot af peat ect. It takes about three years to bear fruit from a small bush. Blueberry is an easy to grow shrub and is very ornamental beside.
Raspberries are more complicated. All are perennials, but the care from year to year is different. Some propogate by division( the clump gets bigger) some propogate by tip rooting ( where the tip of the branch hits the soil it starts anew plant ) there are also early fruiting as well as mid and late season plants. there are red, black and purple types also. some are hardier than others. I would suggest a local farm market or a pick your own type place and ask them what type would be best suited for you.
Stawberries are also perennials and fairly easy to grow, however managing to get any fruit of off them can be a chore. Every animal from countless birds, squirrels, raccoons to the family dog will be after the fruit. Strawberries can be planted in spring. The mother plant will put off runners which will take root and fruit the following year.
I would suggest an everbearing variety grown in a strawberry jar or hanging basket. much easier to take care of.

 

[WendyZ]

Thanks for the reply. I think this is something I'll need to research before I set out. I'll see if there is a local market that sells them and talk with them also.

 

[bobbiwoz]

My experience has been best with raspberries. The birds, especially robins went after strawberries and blueberries as soon as the tinest speck of color appeared, but the raspberries have been spared this fate. I did get a weevil on the strawberries and had to spray, never needed to spray the blueberries or raspberries.

Also, I have found that raspberries, red ones, have been the easiest fruit to care for. I planted them and stood back while they spread their runners. (Spreading can be a problem.) The only care they require is the cutting back of the canes that have produced. Where we live, we usually get a second crop, but that depends on the date of the first frost. I gave a friend in Michigan a few clumps in '01 and she harvested enough this year to make at least one pie. Mine usually make it to cereal bowls and fruit salads.

Best wishes.

Bobbi

 

[sherry66]

I have my strawberries planted in a raised bed with an A-shape frame over it. When the berries start to mature I place netting over the frame. The birds and other critters can't get at the berries.This works very well for me.

 

[mtblujeans]

I need to transplant raspberry canes from our old house to the house we live now. I had been told, locally, to move them in the Fall so I have been waiting. But, in searching online to see how to do it, info says move them in the Spring! Anyone have some suggestions for me!?

 

[Tiggerkeeper]

We have a heavy producing blueberry bush. Strange as it sounds we have had great success with an aluminum owl similar to a wind sock chasing away birds. We just put a pole in the center of the bush and tied the owl to it the wind and sun do the rest.

 

[DisneyPhD]

My dad had raspberrys and black berries in the yard when I was growing up.

A few years ago when we bought out house I got a blueberry plant and a rasberry one. The raspberries has taken over all around the back yard (only in ok places, we cut it down in others) and produces tons of furit every year (from one plant) the blue berry bush promtly died. I put down acid too and followed directions too. Come to think of it everything I put where that darn pant died has never made it so it migh just be the spot. I think I might try again in a few spot next year.
Stawberry plants grow, but we never get the fruit, the birds do. Also it gets very dirty from the dirt splashing up on it.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I need to transplant raspberry canes from our old house to the house we live now. I had been told, locally, to move them in the Fall so I have been waiting. But, in searching online to see how to do it, info says move them in the Spring! Anyone have some suggestions for me!?

We moved from PA to OH in August, and I brought a couple of raspberry canes with me. They did fine, I made sure to water them, and I did put them in a protected space, facing northeast. I never got around to moving them. They have small white berries right now, if the first frost stays away, it's going to be a good fall crop of berries. I will water them, our ground is dry!

Bobbi

 

[mtblujeans]

We moved from PA to OH in August, and I brought a couple of raspberry canes with me. They did fine, I made sure to water them, and I did put them in a protected space, facing northeast. I never got around to moving them. They have small white berries right now, if the first frost stays away, it's going to be a good fall crop of berries. I will water them, our ground is dry!

Bobbi

Thank you so much for your response. We rented out that house after we moved and the people did not water the raspberries and the patch died down to these 1 or 2 canes. They were such great producing plants....I was hoping to save what is left. I will go ahead and try it.....and continued good luck with your raspberries!

 

[DebºoºS]

They're all very easy to grow. Keeping the wildlife away is another thing.
This season I had much better luck with strawberries. they kept coming. Ours are everbearing.

The raspberries and blueberries fed the woodchucks, birds and the deer. We got a few blueberries & raspberries for breakfast but nothing like last year.They left the strawberries alone. Maybe because they're planted in a round elevated planter. else.

 

[mtblujeans]

What fertilizer do you use on the berries? I want to fertilize both raspberries and strawberries. I am having trouble finding a commercial fertilizer in garden areas of stores.....I am tempted to just throw some cow manure at the base and let the watering work it into the ground.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I have never fertilized the raspberries, and they are high producers. I just got another "thank you" from our Michigan friend and she's having a bumper crop of raspberries this year too! We had lots of rain within the last 2 weeks and that helped.

Today there was a local garden tour, south of Dayton. There was a very clever use of a retaining wall. The blocks actually were a sort of container, and in the soil the owner had strawberries growing. What a beautiful, fruitful idea. The walls were 4 blocks high, and the strawberries were producing.

Beautiful strawberries, Deb!

Bobbi

 

[DebºoºS]

Wow looking back at this thread reminds me of just how bad my strawberries are this year. .
The bright side is our blackberries,blueberries &raspberries are Great this season.
I divided the raspberries and blackberries transplanted some to the field behind the fence. Totally ignored them.No watering fertilizing clipping not nothin' Let nature take it's course.
Sure enough they're coming in and spreading. Best crop yet. We had raspberries with cereal today