Fruit
Adding fruit plants to your garden is very rewarding. They make a perfect border plant. I like to plant my fruits along a building or a fence. As most take several years to bear fruit. Thus adding them near a fixed fixture will ensure you not damage them during the off season or find out that you have move them.
Why to grow your own Fruit
Fruit plants gives us the option of fresh fruits. The berry plants will produce years of harvest for a little investment. Each plant will produce pints of fruit. Grocery stores are charging higher prices for berries, and if you try an organic watch those prices!
Planting what you and your family likes is the best way to start growing your own fruit. If you like strawberry’s, then there are endless growing styles that are fun and attractive to add to your garden. Wanting a living fence or divider? Grow blueberries. They can get 6′-7′ tall and 5′ wide. Of course you can perform size control and make a hedgerow. Are you wanting to mask a wall or would like temporary privacy screen? Grow Raspberries. They grow canes that can be mowed down every season! Or you can prune back the old canes and leave the new. Another great note is raspberries produce in the first year!
If ground covering is what you need, then I would suggest strawberries. They make an excellent ground cover. Each plant will grow about 1′ wide by 1′ tall and they produce daughter plants. The daughter plants will fill in the gaps and become a new plant for the following season.
Our Fruit plants
Currently we are growing a small variety of berry bushes and plants. Our current stock consist of blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries.
My strawberry’s grow in raised beds along the milk house. I planted 75 plants in a 3′ by 12′ bed. They are spaced out 8″ on center. The daughter plants have completely filled int he bed and started reaching into other raised beds and the ground around the bed. I have been debating about creating another bed or two and transplanting some of the daughter plants.
The blueberry bushes are planted along the south side of a barn and inter planted with Lilly plants. They look great when in bloom and with being along the barn it is easier to add bird netting to protect the berries. Most of my blueberry plants are self pollinating but I do have several varieties to ensure a more bountiful harvest.
Our raspberry plants are planted along the west side of the lean. Here they receive plenty of sunlight, and have a great soil structure. Raspberries require a trellis of some sore to help support the canes. I run wires along the lean wall and it makes a great border for the raspberry bed.
There is plenty of ways to dress up the landscape with berry plants. The trellises and beds can be decorated to enhance the gardens looks as well. As the best result of it all is the tasty fruit we get to eat at the end of the day.