Can You Grow Raspberries & Blackberries Together?

Site Selection

• Careful selection of a growing site is paramount. Blackberry and raspberry bushes prefer full sun and thrive best in nutrient-rich, well-drained, sandy soil. While the bushes require a regular supply of water, avoid low-lying areas, which remain wet throughout the spring. Avoid planting raspberry and blackberry bushes wherever potatoes, peppers, tomatoes or eggplants have been grown within the previous 4 years. These plants can transmit a root rot known as Verticillium, which attacks the berry bushes' roots.

Soil Preparation

• Depending on soil conditions, it can take up to 2 years to properly prepare the soil for blackberry and raspberry planting. These berry bushes prefer a pH of 5.6 to 6.2. If the soil is too acidic, ground limestone incorporated into the soil increases alkalinity. One method of adding the required nutrients to the soil is to grow a cover crop such as oats, rye, millet or buckwheat and sowing the crop into the soil before it seeds. This discourages perennial weeds from growing in the area. Applications of manure or compost can prepare the soil with the proper nutrients.

Care and Cultivation

• Keep the area around the growing bushes free from weeds. Blackberry and raspberry bushes should receive approximately 2 inches of water each week. Use mulch as a weed-control solution as well as to help retain moisture. Three to 4 inches of wood chips, pine needles, rotted leaf mulch or chipped bark can be a suitable mulch. Fertilize the raspberry and blackberry bushes once a year early in the spring. Apply 20 lbs. of organic fertilizer or a commercial 10-10-10 mix to every 1,000 square feet. Split the fertilization into two applications, one in mid-April and the next in mid-May.

Varieties

• The University of Maine Cooperative Extension's website recommends the following varieties of red raspberries: Boyne, Killarney, Newburgh, Nova, Prelude and Latham. Two recommended black raspberry varieties are Jewel and Early Sweet. Blackberry varieties include the Darrow and Illini.