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Strawberries and raspberries
There’s a very good reason for growing your own berries. Berry fruits are so soft when they’re ripe that they are easily damaged. It’s much better to grow your own and enjoy them when they’re yummily fresh and fully ripe.
Growing Raspberries
Winter is a good season to think about planting raspberries because packaged raspberry canes appear in the shops at this time of year. Raspberries do best in areas with cool winters, where they’ll grow happily in full sun. In warmer places raspberry plants prefer a little bit of protection in the afternoon.
The first thing to do before planting is to clear away weeds because their competition will really slow the growth of the raspberries. Do this by spraying weeds with RoundUp (fortunately RoundUp breaks down rapidly in the soil so won’t leave any harmful residues). After the weeds have died they can be dug into the soil. At the same time mix in some Dynamic Lifter and some Yates Gro-Plus Superphosphate, which will encourage good root growth. Before planting, place some supportive stakes at the end of each row.
Prune raspberries in mid winter by removing old canes that have already fruited. After pruning, feed with Thrive Granular Citrus Food.
Growing Strawberries
If you think that your garden isn’t cold enough for raspberries, don’t despair. Strawberries can be grown in almost any climate and they don’t even need a garden bed. Because the plants are relatively small they suit containers (guess how strawberry pots got their name?) or hanging baskets.
Strawberries can be grown from packaged crowns, small plants or seed. Packaged crowns are available in winter and, because they usually possess a substantial root system, they’ll give the plants a head start. Small strawberry plants in mini pots are easier to find in the warmer months. Seed can be sown in spring or autumn but the small, sweet fruit don’t usually develop until the second year.
Grow strawberries in a raised bed or a container filled with good quality potting mix (Yates Professional would be ideal). Feed regularly with Thrive Concentrate Flower and Fruit and, most importantly, sprinkle some Blitzem or Baysol pellets to protect the fruit from snails and slugs.
Comments (8)
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Andrea
Yates site member
07:37, 14 August 2010
I have had raspberries growing for a few years now, someone told me to prune out the paler /older / dead canes and leave the darker (maroon/ brown ) ones , and then cut them to chest height, is this correct ? I have no idea what canes have fruited the previous year......... I live Nth Canterbury and the frost are hard. I do seem to get a good crop, but coud I do better . Andrea
Ronald
Yates site member
10:16, 22 September 2010
I grew raspberries in my previous place. You should prune out dead and previous fruited canes. Unless you have a double cropping variety which fruits Dec and then again in autumn you can prune them after fruiting since you want the current season's canes for fruiting next season. You may be able to tell the previously fruited canes because they have old fruit stems still attached but sometimes mine would flower on the current seasons growth too so you have to be observant. Hope this helps.
Shona
Yates site member
10:36, 27 October 2010
This is the first time I have ever grown strawberries in my garden but before they are reddening something is eating them, can someone please tell me how to get rid of these pesky strawberry eating pests ?
travis
Yates site member
16:18, 12 November 2010
bird netting
jonathan
Yates site member
17:20, 06 December 2010
I find ants are a pain...leave bullet holes in my strawbs
Rebecca
Yates site member
18:46, 01 January 2011
Our strawberry plants seemed to be doing well with a few berries starting to ripen. The next thing they have gone black and are shrivelling up. Why would this be happening? They are in pots.
Lynda
Yates site member
16:43, 21 July 2011
This site says to plant the raspberry plants in a row and have a supporting stakes at the end of the row. Im having trouble visualising what stakes at the end of the row do. Can someone enlighten me and also how far apart do you plant them. How many do you need to plant to get enough to make a heap of jam.
Simon
Yates site member
14:21, 04 December 2011
Does anyone have any advice on raspberries that grow and split as they ripen, appearing to be sort of like siamese raspberries? I've searched Google with no luck!
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