Want to plant grapes and berries---

[Anne]

we're replacing some old overgrown and ugly shrubs and want to do it with a wall of grapes adn berries---

What goe well together?

We'll be planting Niagara and concords...

[Christina]

All of the berries that grow naturally here spread like crazy and take over the area that they're planted in. I don't know how other kinds behave but I wouldn't plant them near anything else. They're covered in prickers too. I hate the damn things. The worst part is that the birds eat them before they're ripe.

I'm not expert at growing grapes but unless you let them get big for a shade arbor they don't take up very much space each. I go for smaller vines with fewer but larger fruit. The last place that I lived had a huge concord vine and it produced small but delicious grapes. They'll get as big as you let them.

[sohy]

I have goddamn blackberry volunteers all over the place because the former homeowner was dumb enough to try and grow that weed in Georgia. Blackberry brambles are a mess and almost impossible to destroy.

I have some blueberry bushes but I don't bother to care for them and the birds get to the fruit before I can. I just pick blueberries on one of the local farms which are grown by people who know what they are doing. Seriously, blueberries don't have stickers, aren't invasive and make a pretty nice bush or tree. Do you like blueberries? If I were motivated, I'd take better care of mine. Blueberries are my favorite fruit.

Raspberries would probably do well in a northern climate as well. I had a neighbor in New Jersey that had some nice ones. She used to let us pick them when we were children. I don't think they are nearly as invasive as blackberries.

[Ray Moscow]

We have blueberry bushes and a "tame" (thornfree) blackberry plant.

The strawberries are doing well. We should have a good crop ready soon.

[miss djax]

i wish i could grow berries :( the desert kills 'em all. *sniff*

[Christina]

Goddamn blackberries are like mint with nasty thorns. They volunteer all over and no matter how hard I try to dig them up they always come back from roots. If I could eradicate one unwanted thing from my garden, that would be it.

My grapes are doing great though and I should have a good crop of them this year if I break down and put bird netting out.

[Valheru]

Goddamn blackberries are like mint with nasty thorns. They volunteer all over and no matter how hard I try to dig them up they always come back from roots. If I could eradicate one unwanted thing from my garden, that would be it.

It's like a contest of wills. You have to stare down that fucker or it WILL win in the end. You have to rip out everything you can see, be vigilant and keep an eye out for new shoots at least twice a week.

You can get rid of it within a season.

[Christina]

The problem is that they wind around other plants and shrubs that I don't want to rip out and I've lost dozens of small perennials trying. It isn't like I have a small patch somewhere - I have almost 3/4 of an acre of flower beds alone and at least another acre where it's spreading in from the woods. I've eradicated french broom, dandelion, a few kinds of invasive grasses and most of the mint here but I don't know a single person that has ever gotten rid of blackberries it completely here. If it's that simple for you to do without pesticides, you should do it so that you can show the progress and then go win some major gardening prize somewhere. Seriously, woodland gardeners all over would love you forever. : ).

[Valheru]

It's not simple - it merely takes determination. The little vines have an infinite supply thereof, whereas you don't. I see now that your issue isn't as simple - it seems to be an intractable problem.

[Christina]

Have you ever eradicated blackberries completely from that much woodland property or are you talking in theory here? I'm not trying to give you a hard time but you're saying that you can do something that the best gardeners up here can't do and they'd love to know that someone has done it in a way that lasts more than a season. Do you have any pictures? It's as easy as can be to do with other weeds that spread from seed but not those.

[Ray Moscow]

AFAIK, you have to keep pulling them up by the roots. It takes a lot of time, since new seeds keep sprouting (getting brought in by birds, dropped by the last generation of plants, etc.)

Blackberries are extremely aggressive plants.

[Christina]

Yep, there's no point in even trying if you don't get out there first thing in the spring and dig them up and then keep doing it all season. I can easily keep them under control but not get rid of them forever. They're either native or naturalized here and they're the most common brush in the woods.

[Valheru]

I realise that the source of your problem extends beyond your property. If you were able to contain it within four walls, you could probably manage it. I underestimated your problem, is all.

If it was my problem, I'd attack it with a combination of walls (to contain it), black ground sheeting, rock salt, and a shitload of elbow grease. The shitty thing is that the berries aren't even palatable and only end up as bird-shit-stains on your car. :mad:

[Christina]

But have you ever successfully done it?

I have to laugh at the idea of building a wall to surround over 5 acres and sinking it low enough that they can't grow under it. The black ground sheeting will kill everything else too as will the rock salt.

[Valheru]

Me, no. Never done it myself. :D

I know I'm going to get LOTS of flak for suggestion this, but have you considered getting a goat or two?

[Ray Moscow]

I get blackberry vines (brambles) popping up all the time. I just pull them up as I go.

The vacant lot across the sidewalk from our back garden is just overrun, though. To clear it I think I'd cut everything to the ground, cover it with a tarp for about a year, and then start over. Even though, you'd still get some coming up from seed.

[Christina]

Actually, I've considered goats dozens of times but they cost a lot to rent and getting my own means protecting them from coyotes and keeping them from eating everything else. I'm still thinking of doing it in some limited areas if I can ever afford it.

[Valheru]

Get some local church-goin' folk to herd your goats. :evil:

[Faerie]

Sounds as if you live in a lovely place. I'd love some space without walls and close neighbours.

[Valheru]

Sounds as if you live in a lovely place. I'd love some space without walls and close neighbours.

Unfortunately, we are forced to protect ourselves from invaders of a different kind here in ZA. Ten-footers and 1/2" burglar proofing is the order of the day.

[Christina]

I do, Faerie and I can't believe how lucky I am sometimes. This feels like paradise after growing up in the South Bronx. The house is just an old country cottage and nothing fancy but we have lots of outbuildings like a cabin and shop. The pool is a concrete rectangle that was put in during the early 50's. We bought it as a trashed fixer-upper and have been working on it ever since. Joe does all of the skilled labor and I do all of the landscaping so we only have to buy materials.

This is just one of the views we have behind the pool. You can only see the ocean from the roof because of some of the trees but I know that it's there all the time.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/ViewfromDeck.jpg

[Faerie]

Sounds as if you live in a lovely place. I'd love some space without walls and close neighbours.

Unfortunately, we are forced to protect ourselves from invaders of a different kind here in ZA. Ten-footers and 1/2" burglar proofing is the order of the day.

Its sad. We've got so much open space going to waste because of it. :bang: