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Raspberries have long been grown in summer cottages. We all want to eat sweet fragrant berries in the summer, and even prepare medicinal jam for the winter, so we allocate the sunniest place on the site for this crop. And if there is a desire to settle a blackberry, then it immediately becomes noticeable that the site is not so big, it is difficult to find so many unshaded places to plant another equally light-loving berry. Therefore, the question arises as to whether it is possible to plant raspberries next to blackberries.
Features of growing raspberries and blackberries
Blackberries are planted in open places because they need a lot of sunlight, however, as they grow older, their shoots become hard and brittle, they can suffer from strong winds. To prevent this from happening, landings are best placed away from windy places.
It is not always possible to find an open, elevated place protected from the wind with a deep occurrence of groundwater in the country, so blackberries are most often planted, like raspberries, along the fence. Both of these crops need a lot of moisture for comfortable growth, because wide large leaves evaporate a lot of it from their surface. But if waterlogging and stagnant water occur at the level of the roots, then the lack of air flow to them will immediately affect the growth of the bushes. Therefore, both of these crops with berries similar in structure should be placed where groundwater occurs no higher than one and a half meters from the surface. And you need to water so that the roots do not experience a lack of moisture, especially during the fruiting period, but the soil should be light enough not to retain water.
Raspberries, like blackberries, can suffer from weeds, so weeding, loosening the soil are essential points in caring for them. You can mulch the ground around the bushes, this will not only prevent weeds from growing, but will allow you to water the plantings less often.
In addition, both of these berry crops respond well to nitrogen fertilization. If humus or compost is used as mulch, then each watering will send a portion of fertilizer to the roots. They say that it is difficult to overfeed raspberries, it is advised to feed them during or immediately after flowering. Blackberries will also please with large sweet berries if they have enough nutrition, although experts do not recommend showing special zeal in this matter. Blackberries need to be planted in fertilized soil, and then fertilizing every few years. An exception can be made for depleted sandy soils. Such soil is initially weighted with loam, compost, humus or complex fertilizers are applied, and then the plants are fed at the beginning of flowering.
Both crops in the second half of summer should not be loaded with fertilizers, especially nitrogen, otherwise they can provoke an extension of the growth period, then they will not have time to prepare for winter.
It is better to feed raspberries again in the fall so that the fruit buds of the next harvest develop well.
These crops are also related by the fact that most traditional varieties give a lot of shoots and branches, so you have to thoroughly thin out the bushes during the mandatory pruning. Old shoots are cut out from raspberries, on which the number and size of fruits decreases, and blackberries generally require replacement of shoots – each shoot bears fruit once, in the second year of life. Therefore, in the fall, the branches that gave fruit this year are completely cut out, and only those that have grown next to them this year are left.
Blackberries with their thorns, as well as prickly raspberries, make it difficult to care for them and harvest, so it is recommended to plant them in rows at a distance of at least 2 m, and 40–50 cm can be left between plants. It is very convenient to limit rows with trellises, on which in summer you can fix the shoots, bending under the weight of the berries. Bushes with annual pruning should not be allowed into the aisles, let them grow better next to each other, and their density will also have to be adjusted during the pruning process.
Blackberries and raspberries have common enemies, which you can fight with the same methods. If the bushes are not allowed to thicken, then the threat of pests or diseases will be less. To prevent the occurrence of these troubles, you need to ensure that the weeds do not even make their way into the aisles. It is useful to periodically spray the greens with infusion of nettle or horsetail. Well repel aphids and some other carriers of diseases infusions of ash or tobacco. Of course, there are special preparations that can get rid of most pests, but summer residents prefer to use less harmful products, although they are less effective. It is very important not to allow plants to be shaded, and if they grow densely, they shade themselves.
An important factor in healthy plantings is not only healthy planting material, the choice of which must be taken very seriously. Predecessors and neighborhood matter here. So you can not plant these crops after apple trees, potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, strawberries. It is desirable that they also do not grow nearby, this will have a bad effect on the health of the bushes, which means the harvest of vitamin berries.
Can you sit next to
Since summer cottages usually limit the enthusiasm of gardeners with their area, it is necessary to come up with options for compact cultivation of crops next to each other. It is quite possible to plant blackberries and raspberries side by side – after all, their requirements for growing conditions are very similar. If there is a well-lit place with light nutrient soil on a hill or with a drainage system to remove excess moisture, then both of these crops will take root perfectly.
Each of them is not threatened by cross-pollination, so they will not spoil each other’s crop quality. Most varieties of blackberries give fruits gradually, many gardeners pick berries for 2 months or more. A special pruning of raspberries can push the time limits of harvesting almost all the warm season.
Some gardeners shorten the shoots in early spring like this: leave the longest ones, pinning them at the right height, next shorten the next level by a third and the last one by half the length, the most daring cut even more. This is how fruiting happens – it starts on the highest branches, then passes the baton of fruit ripening to those that are lower.
But harvesting all summer, making your way through thorny thorny thickets, is not very pleasant. And this should be done regularly every 2-3 days, ripened fruits should not be left on the branches, this can lead to diseases. To facilitate care and harvest, you can choose thornless varieties of blackberries.
Both cultures grow very strongly, planting them side by side means dooming yourself to an even more serious pruning exercise. You will have to dig a territory limiter into the ground: a sheet of some hard material is buried to a depth of 50–60 cm (plastic, metal, roofing felt, slate can help), which will restrain the advancement of young shoots further along the site.
You can make your life easier by choosing those varieties that do not form offspring. This is black raspberry, and from the blackberry variety it is good to plant such varieties: Loch Ness, Black Satin, Thornfree and Navajo.
The bushes of these varieties also do not have thorns, however, they can freeze out at temperatures below -20 degrees. To prevent this from happening, before the onset of winter, the branches are collected in bunches and bent to the ground, if snow is not expected, then they are covered on top with hay, leaves or branches of coniferous trees.
Raspberries and blackberries may well grow side by side, and a wide variety of modern varieties of both crops will allow you to choose a combination that is convenient for the owner.
Video “Growing blackberries”
This video will tell you about the intricacies of growing garden blackberries.
