Soft fruit berries

chookmike · Post by **chookmike** » 05 Sep 2013, 20:15

Hello all -new on here.

We recently bought some new berry canes - a raspberry, logan berry, tay berry and a yellow raspberry . They were free from a newspaper actually. They arrived as last years canes cut at about 6 inches high with some new growth. Also two blue berries which haven't put much growth on and look fairly poor.

They have produced next to nothing this summer of course but are now 3 feet high and getting straggly and tangled.

We have no idea what to do prior to winter, the beginning of which starts tomorrow according to the doom mongers.

If anyone could offer some advice we would very much appreciate it. Happy to wait a year or two for good cropping but I am sure they can't be allowed to go through the cold as they are.

Thanks!

Mike

lancashire lass · Post by **lancashire lass** » 05 Sep 2013, 22:57

Tayberries and loganberries take a good couple of years before they start producing anything decent - take note that the canes can get 10-15 feet long so you might want to erect a frame and tie the cane to it to tidy it up. Raspberries - depends if you have a summer cropping or autumn cropping before you get eager with a pair of secateurs. I'm a bit of a lazy gardener and I don't bother cutting any of them back and just tidy up the dead canes the following spring. Avoid trimming the blueberry for at least 2-3 years.

As for winter preparation, not really that much - they should all be hardy and withstand anything winter throws at them. Sometimes a cold winter actually does them good and encourage them to grow better the following year and be more productive. You might get some branch ends on the blueberry that has died back, but just nip these off in spring. When they are dormant, you could put some extra compost/manure in the bed and in spring, the soil should be fertile - be aware that blueberries do better with ericaceous compost as they need soil with a low pH. In early spring (just as the buds are opening), add some potash to encourage flowers and fruits round all soft fruit bushes, plus a handful of general purpose fertiliser for good measure.