There’s nothing like a fresh bowl of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or blackberries straight out of the garden, and now is the time to plant them! All of these berries are well suited for growing in the northwest and are readily available from garden centers this time of year.
Regardless of the kinds of berries you decide to grow, they should all be planted in full sun with rich soil that drains well but retains some moisture. Fertilize them once a year with either an all-purpose or slightly acidic fertilizer, like berry or even rhododendron food. There are few pests that bother these plants and the worst thing that can happen is if you forget to harvest the fruit. Let’s start with strawberries…
Strawberries: Strawberries come in both June-bearing and Ever-bearing types. If you like to make preserves, go with the June crop types because you will get one big crop all at once. If on the other hand you just like to graze throughout the summer, then look for the ever-bearing (sometimes called day neutral) varieties. All strawberries should be replaced every few years due to viruses that can lead to lowered production. For 2021 you might consider ‘Eversweet', an ever-bearing variety that has replaced the old tried and true ‘Tristar’. For an ornamental touch, plant ‘Berried Treasure’, an ever-bearer with double pink flowers. Also, just for fun, plant a few ‘Raspyberry’ starts which claim to taste like a cross between a raspberry and a strawberry.
Raspberries: Just like strawberries, raspberries also come in two forms - Spring-bearing and Ever-bearing. Spring bearers produce fruit in the second year, which means that your cane comes up from the ground and grows for one season. The second year is when it blooms and produces your crop of fruit. While it is producing fruit, a new cane is sprouting up from the ground, where it will produce next season… and so on and so forth. Once your canes have produced, they should be cut to the ground and removed. By the fall, all you should have left is new canes that can be tied to a wire system so they won’t get confused with the new canes that come up next year. Ever-bearing varieties differ in that they will produce fruit on new canes the first season, starting in late summer or fall. In the fall you can leave these canes and they will produce along new side shoots the following spring (like a spring-bearing variety) or you can just mow the whole mess down to the ground in November and start fresh in spring, in which case you don’t even need a trellis or wire system to support them. Give ‘Crimson Night’ a try, it is compact and produces fruit June into Fall. For a real thornless dwarf, you can’t beat ‘Raspberry Shortcake’.
Blackberries: Almost all blackberries are spring-bearing, with a few exceptions - ‘Prime Ark’ produces on both new and second year canes and ‘Superlicious’ does too, as well as being dwarf, thornless and produces two crops a year. Excluding the aforementioned exceptions, let blackberry canes grow one season and tie them up to a post or trellis in the fall - they will bloom the next spring. Once you have harvested the fruit, remove the canes and tie up the new canes again the next fall. Domesticated blackberries are a little easier to manage than the wilds ones, especially if they are the thornless varieties. ‘Triple Crown’ is a “semi-erect” variety, making it more bush-like rather than vine-like (making it much easier to manage), it is also thornless and produces fruit over a long period of time.
Blueberries: Traditional high-bush blueberries come in early, mid, and late ripening varieties, which means that you can harvest berries from early July into August, depending on the varieties you choose to grow. There are a plethora of choices; some of which only get 1 to 2 feet tall, others that can be almost evergreen in our climate, and even some that sport pink berries. Several new varieties also have attractive new foliage in spring and they all have fabulous fall color. About 6 years ago I wrote about Brazel Berries (which are now marketed under the new name of Bushel and Berry). These are mostly compact shrubs (1 to 4 feet tall) that are great for growing in containers, have good landscape value too, and produce delicious edible fruit. ‘Bountiful Delight’ is the new flavor on the market and we will be carrying them in the nursery this year.
These are the four major types of berries that grow well for us here in the northwest. Some will actually grow in containers, but most are happiest in the ground, either in the veggie garden or incorporated into the landscape. Give them a try this season! Stay safe and keep on gardening.
