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lilacs_of_may

Planting blueberries and raspberries together

lilacs_of_may
15 years ago

I know that blueberries need a more acidic soil than most edibles, but does that also go for raspberries and other berries? Could I plant them in the same patch as the blueberries?

I have a patch that the veggies don't seem to like that well. It gets pretty much full sun in spring and partial sun in summer. I'd like to plant berries there.

Comments (9)

  • pezzuti9
    15 years ago

    Hi Lilacs,
    I have done just what youÂre asking. If fact I just came indoors from planting a new blueberry bush. I placed them in a raised bed all six plants where I just pulled out the last of the zucchini plants I had growing in that bed and I also have raspberry plants growing at both ends of the same raised bed.

    I am aware as well the raspberry plants like a more alkaline soil than do the blueberries.
    I just added garden sulfur around the blueberry plants but kept it away from the raspberry plants which did produce fruit this year. I won't know until next season if it's going to work but it might.

    I wish you luck if you do and post it if they will grow. Don't plant them right next to each other my raspberry plants are about three to four feet away from the new blueberry plants I planted this fall. I am aware that the root system on blueberries spread over a good area and are mostly shallow thatÂs why I applied a heavy mulch using pine wood shavings. I get full sun all day long.

    Lou NA., PA

  • austransplant
    15 years ago

    Lilacs,

    I would not recommend planting the two together. I have raspberries near some blueberries I planted. Raspberries can be very invasive, and I have had to work hard to pull them up as the invade the blueberry bed. Yes, raspberries will grow fine in the soil the blueberries grow in, but in a few years you will regret planting them together.

  • sautesmom Sacramento
    15 years ago

    I agree to not do it--blueberries have shallow roots, and raspberries have canes that come up every year, with the old ones needing pruned out. The blueberries will not be happy with the constant root distubance.

    Carla in Sac

  • athenainwi
    15 years ago

    I wouldn't do it. Raspberries do not play well with others. They take over every inch of space you give them. The only thing I would plant raspberries with is other raspberries and even then you could end up with only the most vigorous variety winning.

  • pezzuti9
    15 years ago

    I forgot to mention that I installed dividers that go about three inches below the topsoil into the hardpan in between the buleberries and the raspberries. Hoping that will keep them in check for awhile.
    Lou NE., PA

  • glenn_russell
    15 years ago

    Pezzuti9-

    I think you're probably going to need to go quite a bit deeper than 3". For example, my beds have 4" thick black edging, and they certainly go right under that with no problem at all... But, I don't mind because I just go by them with the lawn mower.
    Here is thread where someone was talking about seeing raspberry roots down 12": Link1

    I like this advice... "Go down until you don't see any more roots, and then go twice as deep" : Link2

    This thread talks about a 1' barrier: Link3

  • lilacs_of_may
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I have two raised beds that I'm thinking of, with log borders and separated by a little walkway. One has a tree at the far end of it. My thought was to put a dwarf apple tree in one and blueberries and raspberries in the other. But I can separate out the blueberries and raspberries, no problem.

    Now I'm wondering if the tree will interfere and if I could plant my dwarf apple tree there somewhere.

    Perhaps -- big tree (already there) -- raspberries -- walkway -- dwarf apple tree (or some dwarf fruit tree) -- blueberries. But then I'm worried that the acidic soil that I require for the blueberries might bother the fruit tree.

    Thanks for the comments. I didn't realize the raspberries and blueberries aren't the best of neighbors.

    My yard's an odd shape, and I have a pointed area in back of some trees that right now just has weeds and suckers in it. It gets partial sun. I cleared some of the weeds out and planted a raspberry bush there. My thought is that the raspberries could take over as much as they wanted.

    But the raspberry rapidly died. :-(

    I also planted a blueberry bush next to the house where it gets morning sun and mixed some sulfur into the soil. The blueberry bush is alive but looks rather peaked.

  • pezzuti9
    15 years ago

    glenn_russell My topsoil layer in that box is about 10 inches deep and the I dug down another 3 inches below that into the shale hardpan so that gives me a depth of 13 inches. If it works and the R. bushes send out runners under that devider I will just have to deal with then by yanking them out as soon as they break the surface in the spring.

    Lou NE., PA

  • glenn_russell
    15 years ago

    pezzuti9-
    Ahhh, I see. That could work. Let us know if any make it under. -Glenn