Berry Plants

I am looking to plant an area with Raspberries, Tayberries, Blackcurrants etc. The soil appears to be excellent and the veg we grew in similar soil flourished last year. I am looking at about 4/5 Currant Plants 5 Blackberry/Tayberry, 2 Guji Berry Plants, 2 Blueberry a cranberry and 20 Raspberry Canes. All will be bought from Blackmoor online unless I find anywhere cheeper that has good reviews. Are all these plants happy living in the same area. I have a big garden and am looking at planting these at the far end of my veg patch. They will be in full sun and there is a 5 foot brick wall on one side.

I will pot the blueberries but will hopefully grow the rest in the soil. Any tips before I get digging.

 

Not the Blueberries ...

Ah, you've thought of that

The Blueberries will need "Ericaceous" compost (i.e. guaranteed to be of acidic pH)

The rest should be fine.

5 Blackberries would need a lot of space I think?

If you have room for 20 Raspberry canes then I would have 10 each of 2 varieties (or perhaps spread the 20 over 3 varieties) with adjacent/overlapping cropping times, that will then extend your picking season. IME 10 canes is enough to give a harvest big enough to feed several people at Sunday lunch

Dunno about price, or quality, but these are the links I have in my Favourites (for Fruit):

http://www.blackmoor.co.uk/
http://www.readsnursery.co.uk/
http://www.deaconsnurseryfruits.co.uk/
http://www.pomonafruits.co.uk/

My recommendation is to choose varieties that you know you like the taste of. The plants will be a year or two getting underway, and best that they then produce a flavour that you like

They will repay the purchase cost, in fruit, many times over during the cropping lifetime, so although cost is obviously a factor I would recommend making sure you have the right plants - flavour you like, suitable for your soil / area, and so on. A local nursery would give you good, local, advice - and I doubt they will be much, if at all, more expensive.

 

You will need to cover the fruit to keep the birds off when it ripens, but you probably already know that.

 

Don't cranberries need special treatment too? I've forgotten what it is though.

 

I would have thought one goji berry plant would be enough, that's if you can get it to produce any fruit in the first place. We had a thread about it and I can't recall that anyone had a plant that had ever produced any berries, so I'd check it out before buying two.

 

Thanks all. I won't bother with the Gojis and have a better look at Cranberry care. I have done a bit more research on the currant trees and will maybe cut down to 3 of those. Never realised they grew so big.

I have no idea what the different varieties taste like to be honest. I have a sweet tooth so will take a look at those with a description to match. I am looking at 10 summer and 10 autumn raspberry canes to increase the season as much as possible. I might try to get 4 different varieties to edge my bets on taste.

 

I have went with Blackmoors. Nice 10% discount by putting facebook in the discount code box. Thanks for all your help

 

Hi Simon, Did you get Goji berry plants in the end? I planted several and they did fruit last year, but they're far from being a taste explosion!
IIRC, cranberries like moist, acid soil, so probably best in pots or hanging baskets.

 

I never bothered with the Goji berries in the end. Stuck with more tried and tested blackberries etc

 

Ground prepared for the fruit bushes. I added some compost from the heap but would welcome any advice on what the best way to plant would be. The area is around 20x5 foot and runs west to east. The soil if it is like the veg patch on the other side should be very fertile and previously hosted a rose garden. The roses were a pig to remove but we got there in the end.

 

You'll need some sturdy posts with strong wires stretched horizontally at 18" (12" is even better) intervals, to train the raspberries and blackberries/tayberries. If you can, position these so they don't cast shade over the other fruit bushes. Far better to get them sorted before planting, then if the soil gets compacted, you'll have a chance to fluff it up again.

 

Reading further it looks like my 5 foot wide bed will only support 1 row of Raspberries. Looks like I better get the spade out again as I thought that would be enough for two rows. Is there anything else I can plant in that space or do I just go with a row of Raspberries and leave the rest of the ground. Lots of weeding will be needed to keep the ground clear I imagine.

I'll have a think about the best way to do the posts. I would like to create something that will give me the ability to drape a net over so I can protect the fruit.

 

Measurements in gardening are mostly just guides to help people plan and give them an idea of size and shape. If you tie raspberries in to supports they take up little space width wise

I think your five foot bed will support two rows of raspberries easily, plant each row 12 inches or so from the edge and that will leave you an ample pathway down through the middle of them for pruning/harvesting etc. Once planted, mulch it.

Steve...

 

Is there a need to walk between the rows. The bed is in the middle of the garden so I have access to each row albeit only on ones side. I figured I would be able to get the berries from one side if I trained along wires.

 

I agree

I have a double-row in my 4' wide bed. I planted then "staggered" and they are now a 4' wide "thicket". I pick from both sides. Probably not the optimum, but we get plenty of fruit.

Nope. But if you want maximum yield, then single rows, with enough room to walk & pick between each row, is probably ideal.