Q. I purchased several new blackberry and raspberry plants to be planted on a fence. How much sun do they require, and will they have berries this coming summer or next year?
A. Blackberries and raspberries, also known as cane berries, are not a good choice for many gardens. Unlike beans and peas, they are aggressive, growing vines that need to be contained to prevent the vegetation and roots from becoming a major headache. You do not want to plant the vines on any property line fence, even if you’re lot is adjourning open space. There is no way to prevent the underground roots from intruding into the adjourning property. This is the beginning of a neighbor dispute that you can’t win after exhausting a lot of time, energy, resources, and aggravation. Cane berries are best grown on a trellis structure, in raised beds, three to four feet wide and four to six feet off any property line. Hence, many yards are too small to grow them successfully long-term. The trellis needs to be sturdy enough to support the weight of the vegetation. I like to use a ‘T’ bar style of trellis made of four by four posts with a two by four cross piece with a heavy gauge wire running between the posts. The posts are spaced on six-foot centers in the center of the bed. The plants should be spaced every four to five feet. Cane Berries require six hours of sunlight per day, April through October. Berries are produced on the second-year growth, so your plants will fruit next summer. The vines are pruned off at the ground after you finish harvesting all the berries. These canes will not produce berries again, but if left uncut will form a thick, thorny, mass of vegetation called a briar. They are replaced on the trellis with the vigorous shoots growing at the base of the plants while the other new growth is removed. And finally, you’re keeping a watchful eye and removing any signs of growth outside the raised bed. After weighing the pros and cons, you might want to reconsider growing raspberries and blackberries.
Q. I’m going to plant a small vegetable garden in April or May. Do I amend the ground with compost a month before planting, two weeks before planting, or just before planting? Also, there is a field of weeds nearby that is a big headache. I’d like to wipe them out with a natural herbicide. Do you know of any?
A. Vegetable gardens can be amended in any of the time frames mentioned. Some gardeners add a layer of animal manure in the fall or early winter and then rototill it in the spring. Other gardeners amend the soil and plant all in one day, while others like myself, stagger it over a couple of weekends. This activity is a judgment call on your part based on the size of the garden and your time constraints. The amendments/compost should be mixed into the existing soil by a rototiller or with a shovel. They’re not effective in improving and or rejuvenating the nutrients by just laying them on the soil surface. Instead, they function more like mulch, controlling weeds and conserving moisture. As far as the nearby field, I’m not sure of what types of weeds are growing; hence, controlling the unwanted vegetation is a difficult question to answer. The most natural solution is to plow the growth under before they go to seed. Another option is to mow them periodically and wait for them to die once the rainy season concludes. I’m assuming the field isn’t irrigated, so the unwanted vegetation will die in the late spring and shouldn’t return until it rains in the fall. You can find several organic herbicides that kill the actively growing vegetation or the dormant seeds but not necessarily both. There is a nonselective, natural citrus oil product for the actively growing weeds, while corn gluten is used as an organic pre-emergent herbicide. They’re effective in killing the seasonal shallow-rooted grasses and weeds while iffy with deep-rooted perennials such as Bermuda Grass. In your vegetable garden, hand cultivating and mulching is an effective method of controlling weeds, especially while they are tiny. I’d consult the nursery professional at your favorite garden center for a specific recommendation.
Q. I do my gardening in containers on a balcony. Is it possible to recondition the existing dirt, or is it necessary to buy new soil each year?
A. It’s not uncommon for gardeners to reuse the same soil year after year. However, it’s important to rejuvenate the soil by adding new nutrients. I’d add several handfuls of Dr. Earth All-Purpose Fertilizer, or similar organic fertilizer to the existing containers. It should be mixed or stirred into the remaining soil. Potting soil is added if you need some additional volume. If you’re redoing several pots, you may wish to dump all the soil into a pile and mix in the nutrients all at once; otherwise, it’s done one pot at a time. Since they are fertilizers, they will not burn the new plants, and don’t forget, you still need to feed during the growing season.
Buzz Bertolero is an Advance California Certified Nursery Professional. The Dirt Gardener’s website is www.dirtgardener.com and questions can be sent by email to buzz@dirtgardener.com or on Facebook at Facebook.com/Buzz.Bertolero
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