Small Fruits and Berries for the Backyard GardenerThe most popular berries among gardeners seem to be the same ones that
still come to market: strawberries, blueberries and red
raspberries. We grow what we know, naturally enough. But why
stop with only those? With a few more bush and bramble berries, you
can have a steady supply of fruit all summer long. A gooseberry bush
or two will fill the gap between the last strawberries and the first
raspberries. Midsummer brings on the red and white currants and
blackcap raspberries. After that come the blackberries and then
blueberries, and finally the late red raspberries, which ripen until
frost.
Compared with apples, peaches or any of the tree fruits, bush and
bramble fruits are easy to grow. They rarely require spraying for
pests and begin bearing some fruit the year after you plant them. By
their third season they should be in full production. Perhaps most
important, they’re very space efficient and perfect for the backyard
gardener. None require a mix of varieties for
cross-pollination.
Berry
Intensive
With intensive culture, berries will reward you
handsomely. First aim for variety and a long harvest season, then
plant small numbers of each kind and care for them well. When planting,
incorporate lots of organic matter before planting, and mulch with
shredded leaves or compost every year. Prune regularly through the
season to keep each branch or cane as productive as possible. Train
the bushes and brambles against walls and fences to make better use of
space. Following are some thoughts on the major classes of berries
and how to fit them into your garden space.
Strawberries
Strawberries are the first fruit of the season, which
may be why people treasure them so. Ever bearing varieties such as
Seascape, provide berries throughout the summer and have great
flavor. If you prefer large quantities of berries in a shorter time
frame, choose an early or late variety. Some good choices are Hood or
Benton strawberries. These varieties are great choices for making jam
or freezing.
Gooseberries
Gooseberries grow on dense bushes that reach two to four feet tall
without training. They leaf out early in the spring with lustrous
green foliage. The ripe fruit is either translucent yellow-green or
dusky purple to red, depending on the variety. When ripe, the fruit
is juicy and sweet with a pleasing acidity. As with any fruit, there
are marked varietal differences in flavor.
Gooseberries are one of the few fruits that hold their quality well
on the bush when ripe. The earliest gooseberries fill the brief gap
between the last strawberries and the first red raspberries. When the
berries reach about ½ inch diameter and are still hard and a month
from being ripe, they’re excellent for pies and other cooked
desserts. This early harvest thins the fruit so the ripe berries will
be larger. Gooseberries make great jam, they are extremely productive
(a mature plant can produce from five to eight quarts of fruit), they can
be trained against walls where space is limited, and the striking plants
add year-round interest in the landscape. Gooseberries are a great
addition to any garden.
Red Raspberries
A 30-foot row of raspberries, trained to single stems
against a wall or fence, will yield about a quart of fruit every other day
for three weeks, and that’s plenty of raspberries for most
people. A more traditional hedge-type planting will yield twice that
amount, although it takes at least twice the space. To get the most
from red raspberries, plant at least two kinds: a main crop variety for
heavy early summer harvests and a fall (or everbearing) type to close out
the berry harvest.
‘Heritage’ raspberries are a very popular
variety that will finish in early September. The most fruitful buds
are those nearest the top of the canes, so don’t cut raspberry canes
back too far in an effort to make them more self-supporting. After
harvest, cut them out at ground level to favor the new
canes.
Black Raspberries
Although closely related to the reds, blackcaps have a
distinctive flavor, ripen a little later, and require slightly different
training. Black raspberries spread by bending the tips of their canes
to the ground where they root, leapfrogging along at two to three feet a
year. New shoots arise only from the original crowns. There are
no fall-fruiting black raspberries. Cut black raspberry canes back to
3 or 4 feet when the harvest is over with no loss of fruiting
potential. Since black raspberries don’t throw root suckers,
they take much less thinning than reds.
Red Currants
Red currants have an excellent fresh, tart
flavor. They are also one of the most beautiful fruits. When the
berries are ripe, the plant literally drips with long clusters of gleaming
scarlet beads. Each red berry has a transparent skin, so sunlight
makes it glow from within. Currants are very juicy and quite
tart. When fully ripe, they are enjoyable out of hand the way you
would eat any other berry. Traditionally, currants are used for
jelly, jam and cooked desserts. Ripe currants will hold on the bush
for much longer than most other fruits without dropping or losing
quality.
Blackberries
Blackberries are by far the heaviest bearing of the
bramble fruits, producing about twice as much as red
raspberries. They ripen in mid-summer after the raspberries are
finished, and are more heat tolerant than raspberries. Blackberries
are robust plants that need to be restrained or they can become
weeds. They grow and can be trained very much like red
raspberries. However, since they throw suckers so vigorously, you may
want to confine their roots with metal or fiberglass barriers sunk a foot
or more below ground level. Blackberries are also very thorny, so if
you don’t have the patience to pick a prickly plant, choose one of
the new thornless varieties.
Blueberries
Blueberries are such an excellent fruit for fresh
eating. One blueberry bush is all you need. However, if you
plant at least two varieties, it will encourage larger fruit. One of
the greatest benefits of blueberries besides their tasty fruit is that
they have sensational fall foliage and bright stems in the
winter. Plant blueberry bushes in an acid soil (you can add peat moss
to correct the pH and this will also help retain moisture around the base
of the plant). When a branch stops producing fat flower buds in the
fall, it’s time to cut it out at ground level. That’s all
the pruning blueberries need.
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