| Having a variety of berries growing in your garden is | | | | blackberries, will grow better and offer more. Their |
| a lot easier most gardeners realize. Strawberries, | | | | crop is a very juicy and much larger than the wild |
| raspberries, blackberries, loganberries, boysenberries, | | | | blackberries. Since the thorn-less blackberry and |
| blueberries, and along with grapes have a better | | | | dwarf variety have arrived they are easier to care |
| taste, more economical, very healthful along with | | | | for than the plants with larger berries. Blackberry fruit |
| being easty to grow. | | | | plants will do well in different soil types but prefer an |
| Strawberries produce a large amount of berries in a | | | | acidic soil. Boysenberries and loganberries have a |
| small area and because of this are considered to be | | | | similar flavor to the blackberry because they are |
| the most productive. If you have never tried to | | | | hybrids of the blackberry plant. Garden compost |
| grow them this might be a good time to start. They | | | | should be applied every year between spring and fall. |
| can be planted just about any time of the year but | | | | Berry patches do like the weeds so you want to |
| the warmer climates are the only areas that you can | | | | remove them as often as needed. |
| plant in the winter. The fall is the best time to plant in | | | | Several varieties of blueberry need to be planted in |
| the colder climate regions. Planting them during the fall | | | | order to grow blueberries and to produce a healthy |
| months helps in the development of a good and | | | | amount of berries. The soil needs to be high in acid |
| sturdy root system and they will be bushier in the | | | | but if your soil is not you should work in pine needles |
| spring. You will have to remove all the flower buds | | | | or wood chips 6 months to a year before you start |
| and pinch back the runners in order to get a good | | | | planting. The upper twiggy branches on each |
| growth the following season only if you plant your | | | | blueberry bush should be cut back for better root |
| strawberry plants in the spring or summer. The | | | | growth; this pruning will need to be done again after |
| June-bearing varieties of strawberry will give you a | | | | three years. Blueberry bushes will make great hedges |
| much better yield that the "ever-bearing' varieties. | | | | for the garden. |
| Raspberries are available in red, yellow, purple, and | | | | There are number of grape varieties that can be |
| black, but the red raspberry has the best tangy fruit | | | | grown but your own taste will determine the type. |
| flavor of them all and will yield more fruit. Raspberries | | | | The most popular grapes for eating are the Concord |
| will do better if they are planted in fall in colder | | | | grape, Thompson seedless and the Flame seedless. |
| regions and during the early days of winter in the | | | | The early part of spring is the best time for planting |
| warmer regions. You want to plant your berries in a | | | | grapevines. You need to work in plenty of compost |
| fertile soil that has ben endowed with leaf mold or | | | | or organic material; to guide the grapevines place |
| compost. This soil also needs to be well cultivated | | | | poles approximately twenty feet apart and string a |
| during the first few months. Raspberries produce | | | | No. 9 gauge galvanized wire between the poles. Now |
| canes which grow at the base of each plant. Several | | | | plant the vines 8 feet apart along side this wire |
| canes are important for the plants development. | | | | fence. After your first season of growing grapes |
| Once you have harvested the last of the fruit you | | | | prune the old vines branches and another set of |
| should prune back the plant to about 6 canes per | | | | branches will grow over them. For season 2 and |
| plant. | | | | beyond prune back to four main branches; this will |
| "Tamed" blackberry plants, as opposed to the wild | | | | give you a healthier supply of grapes. |