How to Plant a Berry Garden

Plan and plant your berry garden in late winter to early spring, just after the last frost. All berry plants are hardy to frost, but do best with a warm-weather start.

Set aside a plot of at least 30 to 40 square feet for a full berry planting. Use a spot that gets full sunshine all day, good air circulation and quick drainage in both summer and winter. The drainage is particularly important for berry plants and bushes, which must survive both summer and winter conditions.

Plan your garden. Lay out a 10-foot row for blueberry bushes, another 10-foot row for blackberries, boysenberries or raspberries, and 10 to 15 square feet for strawberries. Plant the blueberries or blackberries to the north or south sides of the garden, to keep these tall crops from shading out the smaller strawberry plants.

Amend the soil in each site. Dig into the top 10 inches of soil throughout the strawberry plot, and turn in 3 to 5 inches of organic compost. Mix 6-24-24 fertilizer into the top 6 inches of soil to add nutrition. Prepare sites at every 3 feet in the blueberry row, and every 2 to 3 feet in the boysenberry row. Dig into the top 14 to 18 inches of soil, and add 7 to 8 inches of organic compost.

Plant several rows of strawberries at 15 to 24 inches in the row and with 36 to 48 inches between rows. Plant strawberry seedlings so that their root-to-stem junctures sit at soil level; these plants fail with either deep or shallow plantings.

Plant one row of blueberry bushes, in the sites you prepared. Plant these bushes in holes as deep as their root balls and twice as wide, and pack amended soil around the roots to secure the plantings.

Plant one row of blackberry canes, in the sites you prepared. Plant the canes in holes deep and wide enough to accommodate their root balls. Erect a trellis behind the blackberry canes to support their vining growth.

Water each blackberry and blueberry bush with 1 gallon of water to settle the soil around the roots. Water the strawberry patch until the soil is moist to a depth of 2 inches. Spread 2 inches of mulch over exposed soil in all three patches to keep the bushes warm and moist.