By growing your own berries in your backyard, you can have a wide variety of homegrown berries from early summer all the way to the fall. Even after you harvest your berries, making jam as well as freezing some of the leftover fruit, allows you to enjoy your berries for the rest of the year. There is just something about growing your own berries that makes them taste so much better.
Growing berries requires a lot of hard work, they need full sun and good drainage in rich, fertile soil. It may also be a good idea to plant them in a raised bed to keep them manageable. It is also important to not plant your berries near wild berries otherwise diseases can spread to your fruits.
There are some key differences while planting different berry varieties. Which is why we’ll be going through the most common berries to plant and their individual needs.
Strawberries:
Strawberries are by far the most popular berry to add to a home garden. They are relatively easy to grow as long as you give them good soil and lots of sunlight.
There are three main categories that strawberry varieties fall into: day neutral, everbearing, and June bearing. Day neutral strawberries produce two crops, one in early summer and another in the fall. The everbearing strawberries will continuously produce throughout the summer. Finally, the June bearing, which is usually the most common, will produce only one crop in June, hence its name.
Strawberries should be planted in the early spring, and they usually do the best in a raised bed. Strawberries propagate through runners, which look like vines with little strawberry plants attached to them. This helps the strawberries spread outwards, however, it is important to watch for crowding. To manage the crowding, you will need to plant the runners in between the mature plants.
Blueberries:
Blueberries are delicious, and they taste amazing in a blueberry pie, once they are harvested. They may take a few years before they are ready to produce a great harvest, but it will be worth it.
Blueberries require full sun and well draining, acidic soil. Before you plant your blueberries, you want to start adding acidic matter like pine needles or coffee grounds to the soil and let it break down. Therefore, by the time the next growing season comes around your blueberries will be ready to plant in the soil.
Many birds and other backyard animals love blueberries as much as we do, so it might be helpful to place a netting or covering over the blueberries to ensure that they aren’t being eaten by some other animals.
Raspberries & Blackberries:
Raspberries and blackberries and some of the easiest fruit to grow in your backyard. Once these berries are happily situated, you don’t have to do much to take care of them, except the occasional pruning.
It is important to plant your berries in rows and to leave enough space between the plants. This is to make it easier when weeding, because cane fruits have shallow roots systems and if you don’t remove weeds, they will take the nutrients that were meant to go to the berries. As well, canes will only live about two years and having the extra space makes it easier in the following years.
Raspberries and blackberries need to be planted in rich soil, and in full sun. It is important to keep them away from strong winds, because their leaves can get easily damaged. These berries are so easy to care for, they are for sure a favorite to add to any garden!
Enjoy growing these berries in your garden, and once you try how great your berries taste you will never want to buy them from the grocery store again.
