The answer to your question requires you to answer a lot of questions first. So, let’s start at the top.
What kind of berries do you and your family like to eat? If you have not tried the berry types that grow well in our area, consider visiting a local U-pick berry patch this summer to taste them at their best before deciding what to grow. Those sold in grocery stores will not do the berry type justice or reflect what you can grow in your home garden.
How do you want to use the berries? For fresh eating or to preserve for future use? Some berry varieties produce one large crop over a short period, resulting in a glut of fruit for a couple of weeks. These varieties are ideal for making jams, jellies, and other preserves.
Some berries produce two smaller crops (i.e., one in early summer and one in fall) or a small number of berries throughout the growing season. These varieties are a great way to extend the fresh fruit season.
How much room is available in your garden? Strawberries are small, low growing plants. They can be planted in rows that take up a lot of space or individually tucked into small spaces throughout your garden.
Raspberries and blackberries produce tall canes that must be trellised. They can also be invasive. Give these berry types lots of room. Do not plant them close to other plants or next to a fence line that you do not want them to cross.
Most blueberries are large plants, growing 6 to 8 feet high and almost as wide when mature. There are smaller varieties, however, that do not produce as well as the full-sized bushes but take up less space.
What are the growing conditions in the available space? For good fruit production, all berries need at least six hours of direct sun each day.
Most berries like well-draining soils high in organic matter. Raspberries are most sensitive to wet soil and quickly succumb to root rot if the soil stays too wet. Blackberries are the most tolerant of wet soils.
Strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries prefer slightly acidic soil (pH 6 to 6.5); blueberries require highly acidic soil (pH 4.5 to 5.5). Blueberries do not like soils high in phosphorus and salt that can result from applications of animal manures.
How do you feel about thorns? If you have young gardeners helping tend or harvest the plants, you might want to stay away from berries with thorns. Almost all trailing blackberries and most raspberries have thorns or prickles. Strawberries, blueberries, and selected varieties of blackberry (e.g., Chester Thornless and Triple Crown) have no thorns.
Once you decide what type or types of berries you want to grow, select varieties that grow well in our area. Then learn as much about that specific variety as you can. Even within a general type of berry, the varieties can have vastly different growth habits and care requirements.
Several excellent resources for growing berries in the Pacific Northwest are available for free from Washington State University and Oregon State University. For more information, see https://extension.wsu.edu/clallam/mg/resources/.
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Join us on Saturday, July 19, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Master Gardener Demonstration Garden at 2711 Woodcock Road in Sequim. Veteran Master Gardener Jeanette Stehr-Green will talk about selection, planting and care of raspberries and demonstrate raspberry pruning techniques.
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Jeanette Stehr-Green is a WSU-certified Clallam County Master Gardener and has many years of experience growing many types of berries on the North Olympic Peninsula.
