Table Of ContentBERRIES
Successfully Grow Your Own
Strawberries, Raspberries,
Blueberries, Blackberries,
and More
timber press
portland london
4
Revised and expanded by Teri Dunn Chace.
New and revised material copyright © 2014 by Timber Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
This work incorporates portions of The Berry Grower’s Companion
copyright © 2000 by Barbara L. Bowling.
Frontispiece by Marci LeBrun
Illustrations by Kate Francis
Lettering by Patrick Barber
Published in 2014 by Timber Press, Inc.
The Haseltine Building 6a Lonsdale Road
133 S.W. Second Avenue, Suite 450 London NW6 6RD
Portland, Oregon 97204-3527 timberpress.co.uk
timberpress.com
Cover design by Breanna Goodrow
Text design by Patrick Barber
Printed in China
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Homegrown berries: successfully grow your own strawberries, raspberries,
blueberries, blackberries, and more.—First edition.
pages cm
Other title: Successfully grow your own strawberries, raspberries, blueberries,
blackberries, and more
Includes index.
“This work incorporates portions of The Berry Grower’s Companion copyright
©2000 by Barbara L. Bowling.”
ISBN 978-1-60469-317-1
1. Berries. 2. Ornamental berries. I. Bowling, Barbara L. The berry grower's
companion. II. Title. III.
Title: Successfully grow your own strawberries, raspberries, blueberries,
blackberries, and more.
SB381.D86 2014
634'.7—dc23
2014009483
Introduction: You Can Do It! 6
Berry Basics 11
Berries in your yard 35
strawBerries 51
raspBerries and BlackBerries 85
BlueBerries 125
specialty Berries 155
Recommended Cultivars by Region 190
Further Reading and Resources 196
Acknowledgments 198
Photography Credits 199
Index 201
INTRODUCTION: YOU CAN DO IT!
Whether you are new to gardening berries, or
new to gardening altogether, this book will
help you welcome tasty, healthful, beautiful
berries to the world that lies just beyond your
doorstep. Just one homegrown berry, plucked
on the way from drive to doorbell, can bestow
a dizzying flavor profile, from sweet to tart
to simply divine, and the ways to incorporate
berries into the landscape can be similarly
satisfying and diverse. Perhaps it’ll be as
subtle as a delicate edging of strawberries
along the path leading up to your front stoop.
Or maybe it’ll be a bigger story, like a row of
plump blueberry bushes or a property-defining
fence, covered in trailing blackberries.
7
in
t
r
o
d
u
c
t
io
n
: y
o
u
c
a
n
d
o
it
!
Raising berry crops on a small
scale not only yields a tasty
harvest, it makes an attractive
scene. If you don’t have a lot of
space, choose more compact-
growing cultivars and plant
fewer plants.
What is a berry exactly? To botanists, a berry The basic concept of growing berries is
is a fruit that is multiseeded and derived hardly revolutionary—this diverse group
from a single ovary. So, before we embark of fruits has been a source of sustenance
on this berry-growing journey, a confession: throughout history—but the ornamental
some of the fruits in this book (blueberries, value of berries in the landscape is increas-
currants, gooseberries, elderberries) are ingly recognized and celebrated. It’s entirely
true berries; others (strawberries, raspber- doable to have a good-looking display that
ries, blackberries, Juneberries) are not. But also feeds you and your family. Growth hab-
for the purposes of this book, the common its of berry plants range from groundcovers
term “berries” will be employed for all. More (strawberries) to vines that require support
important than terms, of course, are the joy, (trailing blackberries) to upright, freestand-
satisfaction, and delicious harvests your ing shrubs (highbush blueberries). Any of
plantings will provide for seasons to come. these can become a significant part of your
8
Ripe blueberries are easy and fun
to pick. Your main competition will
be from birds—which can be kept
away by netting until it’s time to
harvest.
home landscape, as productive as a good of a plant. We can have it all—an edible,
vegetable garden or small home orchard natural-looking landscape that requires mini-
and, with savvy siting and good care, no less mal maintenance once established.
attractive. If your yard space is at a pre- So, how to decide which berries are a
mium, a collection of containers is a via- good fit for you? Berry by berry, the chapters
ble planting option for most of the berries in this book will walk you through the best
in this book. And the ever-growing abun- selections for home cultivation. You may
dance of available cultivars means gardeners choose to grow exotic-sounding elderber-
don’t have to choose between the delicious, ries or black currants simply because they
beautiful, and disease-resistant attributes are impossible to find at your local grocery
9
WHEN DO YOU WANT THEM?
in
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r
o
Berries ripen from spring to fall. Some d
u
are ready in early summer, some color c
t
and sweeten up later in the season; a io
n
few go all summer long, once estab- : y
lished. Also, within any one type, dif- o
u
ferent cultivars ripen at different times, c
a
allowing you either to tailor the tim- n
ing of the harvest to your climate and d
o
preferences, or to grow a few different it
!
cultivars in order to extend your picking
season.
Ripening-season information (rang-
A three-season bounty of homegrown
ing from very early to mid to very late)
berries can be yours. Plant ones you’ve
will be listed with each recommended
always wanted, but save a spot or two
cultivar in the lists in the individual
for ones you are less familiar with—you
chapters. Make sure to study these lists
might be pleasantly surprised.
with care, and crosscheck with local
experts and your nursery source if you
need help deciding. Here’s the general
picture, however:
Spring to midsummer: June-bearing store. Or perhaps you’ll be drawn to the
strawberries, black raspberries, June- basics that fill your berry fantasies all winter
berries, gooseberries, red currants, long: ruby-red strawberries, juicy blackber-
white currants. ries, succulent blueberries. But keep in mind
Midsummer: red raspberries, purple that even if they look visually familiar, your
raspberries, most blueberries, black homegrown berries will almost certainly
currants, jostaberries. taste far superior to their mass-produced rel-
Late summer into fall: fall-bearing red atives. Because many berries are picked very
raspberries, fall-bearing blackberries, firm, before they are ripe, to survive shipping
some blueberries (including rabbit- and extend their short shelf life, those found
eyes), elderberries, huckle berries, on grocery shelves are often a bland, expen-
chokeberries, cranberries, lingon- sive disappointment. Fresh berries grown in
berries. your backyard, by contrast, will inspire com-
All summer (or on-and-off all sum- ment—“Oh my, this raspberry tastes like a
mer): alpine strawberries, day-neutral raspberry.” No fancy descriptors needed.
strawberries. This remarkable assortment of shapes,
Early summer and again in late sum- sizes, and flavors is also astoundingly good
mer or fall: everbearing strawberries, for you. Berries are high in nutrition and
blackberries. fiber, low in fat, and often contain impressive
levels of numerous healthful compounds. To
complement these natural health benefits,
the methods described in this book will give
