This topic contains 8 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by Tristan 7 years, 1 month ago.
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An ambitious and exciting plan Stu, sounds good to me, nice idea.
Post a pic when mature!
And the tricky bit may be keeping the blueberries’ compost acid.I have Bluebells accidentally planted with my Strawberries, but it works well as they are dying off as the strawberries are coming threw.
Hello stu, You have to use ericatious (acid)compost. you can check acidity of your home stuff, with strips from a garden shop or good hardware store. Your nearest cafe will be delighted if you collect their used tea bags and coffee grounds, you may have to which both help to keep the soil acid around the blue berries, just use them as a mulch, having emptied the bags first, easier when they are dry. I do mine while watching the I player. You can put lemon, orange and grapefruit peels around the bushes too, quite decorative if you tare them in bits. If you live in a hard water area, it is essential to have water butts. Your water authority will tell you if your local water is acid or alkaline.
When you get your raspberries make sure you buy spring and autumn varieties, for longer cropping
You could make life easier by planting red and blackcurrants, loganberries, tayberries, etc., all of which will grow in non acid soil.
Happy growing. JSorry, should have said, only for blueberries in first sentence. Missed a bit out in line 4…you may have to provide containers or rubble bags, 1 labelled Coffee Grounds and another Tea Bags. Or collect them at different times.
Don’t forget that strawberry plants and beds must be changed every 3 years, or plants dug out, put to one side and the compost removed,used as a top up for your other beds and new compost put in for strawberries, to prevent diseases building up in the soil. They like to be firmly bedded, so stomp round them with your boots, leave plenty of space for runners between each row. Only allow one new plant per runner and only one runner per plant, with an extra few to replace casualties, if you want to keep the same amount of plants. If you want more plants, allow 2 runners per plant. If you want to sell some or give them to family and friends, place a plant pot of compost near the runner, put the new plant on top and when the plant has rooted well, cut it off the runner. Hope you haven’t found these 2 posts over the top. J
Where we live the soil is borderline acid/alkaline so blueberries never really thrived but a few years ago when we moved all our fruit to the same place – to cover with a fruit cage- we added a thick layer of pine mulch in each planting hole for the blueberries and each year top up with a surface mulch of the same. They are now flying and crop really well each year.
What spacing is recommended for strawberries?
18 inches apart in rows 2 and a half feet apart (45 cm and 75cm in metric),
Or 18 inches apart in the style of a number 5 on a dice down the row if you want a more compact bed.
Tristan
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