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bizarrogir

Where to plant berries...?

bizarrogir
13 years ago

I've been trying to figure out where to plant berries in my yard and I keep coming up with conflicting information. I have a lot of space along my south-facing wall that will get full sun all day and I have a few spaces along the south-facing side of the house. I also have some space along the back of my house that faces east and gets only morning sun. And I have some space on the north side of my garage. I'd like to grow blueberries (Sunshine Blue), raspberries (Caroline or Baba), blackberries (Triple Crown I guess), and strawberries (Sequoia or Chandler).

I've read that all of those berries like full sun, but I've also read that in Southern California the sun is too strong for raspberries and blackberries. So where should I plant all this stuff? Also, how many of each plant do I need for only 2 people? Thanks!

Comments (4)

  • wanda
    13 years ago

    Most Blueberries would prefer some shade in the afternoon. The rest would be happier/sweeter in full sun or at least 6-8 hrs of sun and preferably in the afternoon.

  • hosenemesis
    13 years ago

    Sounds delicious!

    Raspberries and Blackberries will grow all too well in a very short period of time. I would not plant them at all, because I'm too lazy to control them. They take over yards, I'm told, and have thorns. You may want to grow them low enough so that you can cover them with birdnetting, and one plant per is plenty.

    One of my students grew blueberries this year, and he said six plants were not enough for him and his mom. I don't know how big the plants get, but his were about two feet tall and a foot and a half wide when I saw them last Spring. He had trouble keeping the birds from eating them, and eventually constructed little cages for them from hardware cloth.

    I like to plant two four foot-by-four foot beds with strawberries for two people.

    Renee

  • peggiewho
    13 years ago

    Your south wall will trap heat, too hot for raspberries. I think I could grow most anything with a eastern exposure in zone 9. East is prim territory. We use to have raspberries planted in the vegetable garden but they didn't like it there so little by little they moved. They put out runners under ground each year heading for the lawn and raywood ash trees. After five or six years of traveling they finally made it to a bit of tree shade and the glorious over spray of the lawn sprinklers. The large ash trees blew down in a big storm and the raspberries struggled so we took them out. It was fun and I'd do it again if I had a wild place to put them. You can get ever bearing and thornless. They have to be managed, cut down old canes and redirect runners.
    I grow strawberries and cantaloupes everywhere. Too ripe fruit gets dumped and covered in my landscape. It's called lasagna composting. So I have a very nice row of strawberries growing by the lawn and a cantaloupe grew in a rose bush last summer.
    My sister in zone 6 has a good blueberry that she grows in a lot of shade. It is a lose bush that looks like another shrub in her landscape. Her claim to success is that it grows by a barn and all the water from one side of the building roof waters it. The plant is 5' tall. Birds eating berries isn't a problem, just sisters.
    Blackberries and raspberries are wild brambling unkempt plants that take a lot of room. You need a 'patch' to have enough. Raspberries are so expensive at the grocery store, I am too cheap to buy them. I picked wild blackberries as a kid and I am too cheap to pay for berries that should be free. Strawberries like sun and can go anywhere. They will send out runners and you can have lots of new plants. All of it takes lots of water. Have fun with your project.

  • bizarrogir
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Looks like I should try planting just a couple of each of them on the east-facing side of the house and the strawberries along the south-facing wall. Thanks everyone! :)