Time to plant a berry-lious garden

BY REBECCER YERGER, Register Correspondent

A rose by any other name is a strawberry, raspberry, blackberry and boysenberry. All being members of the Rosaceae (Rose) family, these luscious berries are as delectable in flavor as the rose is in fragrance. And, just like their floral cousins, these berries require a patient gardener and specific care to help guarantee a fruitful future.

Whether cultivated in containers, patches or rows, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and boysenberries can be successfully grown locally. To further insure this success, purchase certified disease-free plants from local garden centers. Also, the nursery staff can provide advice and help regarding the best berry varieties and cultivars to select plus cultivation tips such as fertilizers.

While each berry plant has individual needs, they all require at least six hours of direct sunlight; well-drained, nutrient-rich and acidic soil; regular watering — preferably via drip irrigation and springtime planting.

Strawberry: The most commonly known strawberry varieties are called “June-bearing” and “Everbearing.” The “June-bearing” variety produces one large crop annually in late-spring to early-summer for a month or longer. The fruit of the “June-bearing” strawberry is considered to be the most flavorful and highest of quality of the two varieties. “Everbearing” strawberries have a longer fruiting season. They produce big spring and fall crops with smaller crops during the summer.

To encourage and maintain the vigor of both strawberry varieties, plant the strawberry plants about 12-14 inches apart. Remove any rotten or diseased berries, leaves and plants to avoid contaminating the other plants. Crowding can also lead to disease and inferior fruit. Thin out the failing plants and those that are three years or older. Also, to maintain a consistent annual yield, add new plants every year by using either the “runners” generated by the existing plants, newly purchased plants or both.

The “June-bearing” variety also benefits from “renovating.” After their bearing season ends, cut off all of the plants’ foliage. For large patches, use a lawn mower adjusted to a higher setting. Be careful not to injury the plants’ crowns, or centers, where the new growth will sprout.

Raspberry: Now available in shades of yellow, black and purple, the raspberry is frequently referred to as a cane or bramble fruit. It shares this classification with blackberries and boysenberries. Generally, all cane plants have perennial roots from which biennial canes sprout each season. The raspberry variety known as “summer-bearing” is a classic biennial. Their canes produce berries only during a cane’s second year or season. However, the “Everbearing” raspberry produces two seasons of berries. They produce a crop in the late-summer or fall of their first season on the upper third of their new canes. The next, or second, season, on the lower two-thirds of those same canes, the “Everbearing” raspberries finish their fruiting.

The raspberry prefers to be planted 12-inches apart and in rows, not patches. Supports, such as trellises, are not necessary for the raspberry. However, trellising can help make harvesting easier.

The color of the raspberry indicates how to prune its canes. Pruning is essential to the longevity and productivity of all cane plants. The red and yellow “summer-bearing” raspberries have an upright and non-branching growth habit. When a cane has finished fruiting, cut it down to the ground as its life cycle is over. Then, prune out the thin and weak new canes to leave the thickest and strongest new canes to flourish.

The black and purple raspberry have arching canes which branch out and eventually produce berries. The tips of these arching canes will become new plants and canes when they touch the ground and take root. Like the other raspberries, prune out the old and weak canes. Then, when the new black and purple raspberries canes have reached three-feet tall, pinch off their tips to encourage the growth of the fruit bearing side branches. In the Winter, trim these side branches to 12-inches long.

The “Everbearing” red and yellow raspberries are the easiest to prune. Right after they have finished their second crop, just mow them down, literally. However, mowing can sacrifice the first harvest of the new canes. So hand pruning may be the more judicious method.

Blackberry & Boysenberry: Both of these canes or brambles while related to the raspberry have some separate cultivation needs and characteristics. On a side note, the boysenberry was hybridized in Napa’s Coombsville area by Rudolph Boysen around 1923. He eventually sold some of these canes to Walter Knott, the future owner of Knott’s Berry Farm in Southern California.

Returning to cultivation needs and characteristics, both the blackberry and boysenberry are susceptible to a disease called “verticillium wilt.” Avoid planting these brambles where potential “wilt” carriers — potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants or peppers — have been grown in the past three year. The blackberries and boysenberries grown in California are primarily trailing in growth habit and need a support system such as a trellis. In mid-summer prune the new canes to six to eight feet tall and secured them to a support. As with the raspberry, prune out the old and weak canes to promote vigor. Then in the early spring trim the new side branches to 12-inches long. This pruning encourages the growth of the small fruiting branches that sprout from the side branches.

While all of these luscious berries of summer require two seasons to mature before fruiting, that eventual bowl of fully ripened, fresh from the garden berries is well worth the effort and wait.            

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