Berry growers reward with sweet rewards
Blueberries, red raspberries and blackberries can be
grown in the back yard.
By REBECCA SLOAN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
A steaming stack of blueberry pancakes, a warm and crumbly blueberry muffin, a blueberry pie fresh from the oven -- these are just a few of the sweet rewards reaped by gardeners who cultivate blueberry bushes.
If you've got a penchant for blueberries but the only place you pick them is off of the grocer's shelf, you might be surprised at how easy it is to grow blueberries in your own back yard.
"Everybody should have blueberries," declared Philip Steiner, of Mellinger's in North Lima. "They are easy to grow, and the bushes produce nice flowers during the spring and attractive red foliage in the fall."
Not to mention delicious fruit.
Varieties
Steiner said gardeners can purchase different varieties of blueberry bushes and enjoy fruit all summer long.
"Duke and early blue are two varieties that will produce fruit in late June or early July, and Elliot will produce fruit during late summer until September," Steiner said. "If you plant a few different kinds of bushes, you'll have fresh blueberries all summer."
Brian Adgate, of Adgate's Garden Center in Cortland, said Jersey and Coolville also bear fruit during the mid-to-late summer.
Most garden centers sell blueberry bushes that produce large berries, although size doesn't necessarily dictate sweetness.
"There are smaller blueberries that are just as sweet as larger varieties although the smaller types are more of a hassle to pick," Steiner said.
Besides attractive foliage and scrumptious fruit, blueberries have another plus: They require minimal maintenance.
"They don't need pruned very often. Once every three years is probably enough," Steiner said.
And they are pest and disease resistant.
Keeping birds away
"The biggest problem most gardeners have with blueberry bushes is birds eating the fruit," Steiner said.
Steiner uses plastic snakes or owls to deter hungry feathered friends from his backyard blueberry bushes.
Adgate recommends covering blueberry bushes with nets to keep hungry birds at bay.
"The netting sells for about $9 for a 14-by-14-foot piece. If you really want to keep birds away completely, you should put up hoops to support the netting or build some sort of frame for the netting," Adgate said.
Fungus can also pose occasional problems, Adgate said.
"Anthracnose is a fungus that damages blueberry canes, and it can be hard to cure, and fire blight can also be a problem, although it is not as common," he said.
To prevent fire blight and anthracnose, Adgate recommends spraying bushes early in the season with a fungicide.
Harvest time
After purchasing and planting blueberry bushes, gardeners won't have to wait very long to enjoy a bumper blueberry crop.
"Larger-sized bushes -- about 18 to 24 inches high -- will produce a few berries the same year they are planted. After that first year, you'll have berries every year, although it seems that blueberries will produce a heavy crop one year and not as many the next year," Steiner said.
Steiner said you can get plenty of blueberries from just five to 10 bushes.
Adgate said blueberry bushes sell for about $8 to $12 depending on size and variety.
Blueberries thrive in moist, acidic soil, so if your soil isn't acidic enough, Steiner recommends adding iron or aluminum sulfate.
Adgate recommends adding peat or compost to your soil.
Blueberries also like full sun.
Red raspberries, blackberries
Red raspberries also like acidic soil and plenty of sunshine, but they prefer drier soil than blueberries do.
Besides hungry birds, red raspberries fall prey to hungry borer beetle larvae, red spider mites and aphids.
"Borer beetles can take over red raspberries. To prevent an infestation, you have to spray the bushes with borer beetle sprays," Steiner said.
Adgate recommends dusting or spraying bushes with pesticides early in the growing season and continuing until harvest.
Raspberry bushes grow larger than blueberry bushes and will yield a good crop about two to five years after they have been planted, Adgate said.
Blackberries grow wild in our area, and some people prefer them to red raspberries because of their hardiness and easy availability, Adgate said.
Like red raspberries, blackberries yield fruit in July and August and like to be planted in a rich, acidic soil in a sunny location.