Best Blueberries and Raspberries for Coastal North Carolina?

[DirtMechanic]

Need acidic medium

My soil runs 5-5.5pH. What is yours? My blueberries are doing well and the meter shows a 4pH. I feel it is dangerously low. What do you think?

 

[DirtMechanic]

gotcha! i'm thinking 3 in one location or 4 in another, so i should be good?

Also, would they be a good landscaping plant? both locations would be by the house as part of the landscape.

Not a good landscape plant unless you understand how to prune. Then every plant is a landscape plant so its a moot point. You could bonsai them.

 

[Meadowlark]

Also....would raspberries and blackberries be friends, if i plant them next to each other?

Raspberries would be friends with the devil if it didn't stop its spreading. LOL. Seriously though, they might well cross pollinate giving you who knows what?

 

[Lyoshka]

Not a good landscape plant unless you understand how to prune. Then every plant is a landscape plant so its a moot point. You could bonsai them.

Well, I’d never put raspeberries, for example, in a landscape on the side of the house, bc of their rambling nature. Of course I will prune them into a rounded shape, but I wondered if they are naturally a good-looking bush this purpose.

Raspberries would be friends with the devil if it didn't stop its spreading. LOL. Seriously though, they might well cross pollinate giving you who knows what?

I can see that! Good thing I have lots of space they can ramble on in the tree clearings.

And maybe I’ll throw in a blackberry bush and see what happens

 

[DirtMechanic]

Actually I would say tbey could easily be used in a landscape, but they can be tall and leggy, and not particularly dense, so it would need perhaps a casual setting with shorter plants under them or in front. They cane, so thats a little weird

 

[Lyoshka]

Actually I would say tbey could easily be used in a landscape, but they can be tall and leggy, and not particularly dense, so it would need perhaps a casual setting with shorter plants under them or in front. They cane, so thats a little weird

Exactly. I’m sure they can be incorporated into some landscapes, but I’m looking for more of a classic look, so raspberries are going in the tree clearings along the side and back lines of our property along with the support you suggested.

But the blueberry bushes, if they look civil enough, I’d like to integrate into the sides or back of the house

 

[DirtMechanic]

Exactly. I’m sure they can be incorporated into some landscapes, but I’m looking for more of a classic look, so raspberries are going in the tree clearings along the side and back lines of our property along with the support you suggested.

But the blueberry bushes, if they look civil enough, I’d like to integrate into the sides or back of the house

Lord knows the Elder Euro Cousins on this site have VAST knowledge of what formal can really mean. @zigs, @Ian, @Becky any directions for my new friend? I am afraid I am too rural to even speculate on the subject.

 

[Becky]

Lord knows the Elder Euro Cousins on this site have VAST knowledge of what formal can really mean. @zigs, @Ian, @Becky any directions for my new friend? I am afraid I am too rural to even speculate on the subject.

I'm afraid I don't have any direct experience with growing raspberries or blueberries, maybe @zigs can help?

 

[DirtMechanic]

I'm afraid I don't have any direct experience with growing raspberries or blueberries, maybe @zigs can help?

Thanks for the quick reply. It was a question of where best to find formal garden images or ideas involving edibles like blueberries, if that makes sense?

 

[zigs]

Also....would raspberries and blackberries be friends, if i plant them next to each other?

I really wouldn't plant Blackberries (Rubus fruiticosus) All they want to do is conquer the world, they send out arching branches that take root at the tips and very quickly turn a garden into a thorny impenetrable jungle

 

[DirtMechanic]

Here is a pic of a blackberry Touching down like @zigs described. Once it sends up a cane I cut the old one away.

@alp do you have any good references for edible plants like blueberry in a more formal garden setting? I am afraid my English to English translation app is broken again.

 

[alp]

@alp do you have any good references for edible plants like blueberry in a more formal garden setting? I am afraid my English to English translation app is broken again.

And my ability to decipher American English leaves me none the wiser! Ah, we are both hopeless!

 

[Lyoshka]

Maybe “formal” is not the right word. It’s nit a fancy garden. But just clean look. Maybe I should post photos of my spaces to give you a better idea.

On another note, spoke to the Arboretum folks and will be dropping off a soil sample either today or Monday for them to send out on Tuesday. Results back in two weeks. She recommended planting to cultivars of a Rabbiteye blueberry bushes. The space I’m thinking about is in front of my kitchen windows and will accommodate for decent size bushes easily. I’m really hoping that space will work. Be back with pictures in a little bit!