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Urban Farm Museum Society of Spryfield Growing Soft Fruits Growing Soft Fruits It is wonderful to be able to pick your own fruits, whether for fresh eating, baking, or preserving. Even tiny gardens can support some fruits, and you will be able to enjoy varieties that are not readily available in stores. Many fruits grow on small plants that are easy to maintain. Raspberries, highbush blueberries, red and black currants and gooseberries are all examples of “soft fruits” i.e., those that do not grow on trees. Edible landscaping Make edible plants part of your garden design. Indian pear (Amelanchier) makes an excellent windbreak, and elderberries are large enough for screening. Fruiting shrubs such as currants can be used in place of ornamental shrubs and hedges. Shrub roses and gooseberries make good barrier plants because of their prickly stems. Grapes and hardy kiwi make attractive vines to add height ot your garden, cover a fence, or create a screen. Strawberries can be used to replace grass as a groundcover. Where to Plant Soil Well-drained soil, rich in organic matter, with a pH of 6.0 to 6.5, is ideal for most fruits, although highbush blueberries grow better around pH 5.5. Test the pH with a small test kit, available at most garden centres. In general, avoid adding garden lime to the soil, which would raise the pH (make the number higher). Raised Beds These work well for strawberries. They improve drainage if it is a problem, and increase air circulation to help prevent fruit rot and disease. Highbush blueberries should also be planted in a raised bed if the native soil is heavy clay. Organic Matter If grass was removed to make the planting hole, chop up the sod and place it in the very bottom of the hole. Mix a 5 cm layer of compost or well-rotted manure into the soil in the planting hole. Planting Holes For fruiting shrubs and vines planting holes should be twice as wide as the pot they came in, and only little deeper than the pot. Spread out roots horizontally, to their full extent. If the roots are pot bound and growing in circles, be sure to loosen the roots at planting time. Soak the root ball in a bucket of water to loosen the roots, or score the outside of the root ball with a sharp knife or garden claw. Fruits are most productive if they grow where they have at least eight hours of sunshine per day. Gooseberries and all the currants will tolerate light shade for part of the day, if necessary, and highbush blueberries tolerate a little shade. Planting Depth Locate soft fruits where they will be sheltered from strong winds, both summer and winter. Plant grapes and all the currants 2.5 cm deeper than at the nursery. Locate them on a slight slope if drainage is a problem. A north-facing aspect provides the cooler conditions appreciated by gooseberries and currants. Plant blackberries and raspberries with 7 cm of soil over the roots. Cut back each stem to 20 cm above the soil surface at planting time. Avoid hollows, where late frosts might harm flowers and reduce fruit production. Plant strawberries with the soil at the same level as the junction between the leaves and the roots. Near buildings or near trees can be very dry, so be sure to water soft fruits twice a month in summer if they are planted in a rain shadow. Plant rhubarb with 6 cm of soil over the buds. Elderberries like moist soil and will tolerate occasional flooded conditions. How to Plant Plant in early spring, or as soon as the soil is dry enough to work. This will give plants and their roots plenty of time to establish before they face their first winter. Take care to set plants at the appropriate depth in the planting hole. Watering Partially fill the hole with soil, and saturate it with water. Add the remaining soil, and water again. Water your new fruits twice a week for the first month. Water once a week for the second month, then twice a month until mid August. Mulching Weeds and grass will restrict growth of fruiting plants and reduce fruit production. Eliminate them with the following steps: after planting, spread a 5 cm layer of compost or wellrotted manure over the surface of the soil, as far out as the drip line (tips of the branches); lay down corrugated cardboard to completely cover the manure or compost; cover the cardboard with a mulch of straw, shredded bark, seaweed, sawdust or leaf mats. Create leaf mats by leaving bags of leaves open all winter. In spring, remove thick layers of the compacted leaves. or well-rotted manure and start new plants with runners from the remaining plants. Cut off all but 5 runners on each mother plant. Of the remaining runners, cut off each runner after the first plantlet is produced. Rejuvenating Rhubarb If stems are thin, the plant is either starved of nutrients, or too crowded. Spread a 7 to 10 cm layer of well-rotted manure around each crown in the spring and see if that helps produce thicker stems. If the stems are crowded or if the crown is very old ... it will need to be dug up and divided in early spring. Cut each crown into two or three pieces. Replant them in large planting holes spaced 1 m apart. Every spring, pull aside the mulch and spread more manure or compost. Mix two or three spadefuls of manure or compost into the soil before planting. The eyes or buds should be 5 cm below the soil line. Put down more cardboard if weeds or grass have infested the root zone. Pruning Tips Add more mulch if it is getting thin. Early Spring before leaves emerge Regular Maintenance With correct planting and good mulching, soft fruits require little care. In the Spring In the Summer If summer is dry, give fruits a deep, thorough soaking with water when they bloom, and again as fruits are filling out. Let the hose run until the water puddles In the Fall Collect fallen tree leaves in bags. Leave the bags open over winter to collect rains and snow Use the packled leaves as mulch in the spring In the Winter After the ground is frozen, cover the strawberry beds with 30 cm layer of winter mulch. Use oak leaves, straw or evergreen branches for winter mulch. Blackberries – Remove all 2-year-old canes that bore fruit last year by cutting them off at ground level. Bury or burn any diseased canes. Black Currants – Cut off canes to 2.5 cm above ground level if they are 3 years old or more, if they are weak or spindly, or if they have withered tips. There should be a mixed dozen of 1-year-old canes that are light coloured, and well-branched 2-year-old canes. Blueberries – Remove dead wood, crossed and rubbing branches, and broken branches. Some very old branches that produce poorly should be cut back to a strong, upright shoot, and some cut back to the base. Elderberries – Cut out dead, diseased and damaged wood, and crossed and rubbing branches. Gooseberries – Cut out weak shoots, and stems that are more than 4 or 5 years old. Cut back 1-year-old shoots by one half. Maintaining Strawberry Beds Grapes – On established vines, cut back last year’s growth to 2 or 3 healthy buds. Strawberries produce best on 2-year-old and 3-year-old plants. There are two ways of managing strawberries for maximum production. Hardy Kiwi – Rarely needs pruning except to remove deadwood. If there is lots of space, have three beds – one, two, and three years old. Start a new bed each year and rip out the oldest bed after fruiting. In a single bed, dig out the 3-year-old plants each year immediately after fruiting is finished. Work in compost Mulberries – These ooze a lot of sap when cut, so remove only dead and crossed or rubbing branches. Raspberries – Prune summer-bearing varieties as for Blackberries. Cut autumn-bearing raspberries to ground level each spring. Red Currants and White Currants – These fruit best on older wood. Remove only the stems that are 5 years old or more, leaving 8 to 10 main stems. Saskatoons (Indian Pear) – Cut out dead, diseased and damaged wood, and crossed and rubbing branches. Summer Blackberries – These can be pruned in summer immediately after fruiting, if desired. Follow the directions for spring pruning. Black Currants – These can be pruned in summer immediately after fruiting, if desired. Follow the directions for spring pruning. Propagation It is easy to start black, red and white currants, elderberries and gooseberries from hardwood cuttings. In autumn after the leaves have turned colour, cut off several of the youngest stems, so that they are as long as possible. (Take heeled cuttings of Mulberry.) Insert cuttings into the ground at a 45o angle (to reduce frost heave), so that 3/4 of the stem is buried. After the ground is frozen, mulch the area with a thick layer of straw, evergreen branches or oak leaves. In spring, the rooted cuttings will produce leaves that continue to grow and enlarge. Transplant them to a nursery bed, and then move them to their permanent location in three years. Gooseberries – Cut back new laterals to five leaves, just above a leaf joint. This will encourage greater flower, and hence fruit, production. Raspberries – These can be pruned in summer immediately after fruiting, if desired. Follow the directions for spring pruning. Blackberries and raspberries are propagated by digging up suckers in early spring and transplanting them to a new location. Red Currants – Cut back new laterals to five leaves, just above a leaf joint. This will encourage greater flower, and hence fruit, production. Highbush blueberries can be propagated from root cuttings. Cut pieces of root 3 to 10 cm long, 6 to 12 mm in diameter. White Currants – Cut back new laterals to five leaves, just above a leaf joint. This will encourage greater flower, and hence fruit, production. Make the bottom of the cutting slanted, so you know which end goes down. Insert sturdy pieces of root vertically into loose, welldrained soil or potting soil. Lay thin or flexible pieces of root horizontally and cover them with soil. Flowers and Fruit Plants will not produce fruit unless they flower. Lack of flowers may be caused by: too much shade (move plants to a sunnier location) the wrong pH (test soil pH levels; aim for pH of 6.0 to 6.5) poor drainage (plant in raised beds) planting too deeply (remove soil, or dig up and replant) not enough phosphorous or potassium (add fish bonemeal and seaweed), or too much nitrogen (reduce manure and compost) Propagate hardy kiwi by taking semi-hardwood cuttings (the base of new growth is firm, but the tip is still flexible) in mid-summer. Start grapes with hardwood cuttings, eye cutings (short pieces of stem), or by layering the stems. Elderberry, gosseberry, Indian pear and all the currants can also be easily propagated by layering. In early spring or late summer, bend a branch to th ground. About 12 to 25 cm from the brnch tip, scrape off the bark on the underside of the stem. Bury that part of the stem under soil, which has been lightened with compost. Put a rock on top, or bend a wire to anchor the stem. The following spring, cut the roote stem away from the parent plant and move it to a nursery bed. the plant being too young (be patient). If there are flowers but no fruit, a late spring frost may have damaged the flowers, or pollination may not have occurred due to lack of bees, wind or rain that kept bees away, or cold temperatures. When young plants are first planted and getting established, it is better that they grow stems and leaves, rather than flowers and fruits. Highbush Blueberries should have all the flowers removed the first year, to promote vigorous growth. Planting Information Fruit Number of plants per person Space between plants x space between rows Blackberries 1 200 x 200 Black Currants 1 150 x 300 2 200 x 200 6 50 x 100 Elderberries 1/2 200 x 300 Gooseberries 1 150 x 300 Grapes 1 200 x 300 Hardy Kiwi (A. kolomikta) 1 150 x 300 Mulberries, weeping 1/2 200 x 200 Raspberries 10 60 x 120 Red Currants 1 150 x 300 Rhubarb 1 100 x 100 Saskatoons (Indian pear, Serviceberry) 1 200 x 300 Strawberries 25 30 x 60 White Currants 1 150 x 300 Blueberries highbush Blueberries lowbush Notes: Plant raspberries 60 cm apart in single file down the middle of 30 cm wide rows. Space row centres 120 cm apart. Plant up to nine female hardy kiwi vines (which bear the fruit) to every one male vine (which pollinates the female flowers). Actinidia arguta is too large and vigorous for any but the largest gardens. Choose A. kolomikta instead, which is smaller and bears fruit at a younger age. Plant two varieties of blueberries and elderberries for pollination URBAN FARM MUSEUM SOCIETY Promoting rural traditions in urban places.