In the hands of caring gardeners, berry bushes can become a real decoration of the site. The lovingly grown fruits will delight you with a delicious harvest throughout the season.
Fruit trees and berry bushes for the garden
The arrangement of the garden plot is not complete without fruit and berry bushes and trees. In a garden with a beautiful landscape design, there should be a place for a berry bush: raspberries, gooseberries, currants, sea buckthorn, honeysuckle, blackberries, blueberries, irgi. We offer you an overview of the most popular shrubs.
Raspberry
Surely you have heard about the wonderful properties of raspberries. It is difficult to imagine that raspberry bushes used to grow exclusively in forests. And only several centuries later they began to breed it in garden plots. Raspberries have a lot of advantages, they are simply necessary in the garden. Shrubs, depending on the variety, have red berries, less often yellow and purple-black.
Varieties of raspberries
- Traditional varieties of early, middle and late ripening. They adapt to any conditions. The disadvantage is low yield.
- Large-fruited are considered to be high-yielding. They allow growing berries up to 12 grams each.
- The most popular are repaired. They begin to bear fruit in the first year.
Care features
Berry bush requires regular watering, loosening and fertilization. Planting is done in spring or autumn. For the winter, the soil around the bush is insulated. In the spring it is necessary to trim and tie. All of the above measures will be useless if the shrub is not protected from disease.
Harvest with gloves, since bushes of many varieties have thorns on the branches.
Gooseberry
Gooseberries are often referred to as northern grapes or Russian cherry plums. An unpretentious crop gives good yields. Bushes feel great in lighted areas. They are afraid of shadows and waterlogging. You can find gooseberries in almost all regions. Bushes begin to bear fruit from the third year. The berries can be green, yellow, or reddish-brown. There are at least 1500 varieties
Unlike currants, gooseberries are not afraid of drought.
Gooseberry varieties
- European varieties are praised for their high taste. The disadvantage is the instability to disease and frost.
- American - are not afraid of drought, give a good harvest. In terms of size, the berries are inferior to European varieties.
- Hybrid - combines all the best. In garden plots, they are considered the most common.
Care features
Gooseberries do not tolerate acidic soils; it is recommended to add garden compost and lime to the planting trench. Bushes are planted in September. When planting in spring, the plant may die. Old and dry branches must be pruned. Collect gooseberries as they ripen. Due to the thorns on the branches, it is better to do this with gloves.
Blackberry
In the garden, blackberries are grown relatively recently, before they could be found exclusively in the wild.
It surpassed raspberries in medicinal properties and taste. A shrub with a perennial rhizome was not in demand due to its sharp thorns. However, thanks to breeders, varieties without thorns appeared. It has an external resemblance to black raspberries. It tastes sour.
Varieties of blackberries
- Erect blackberry - is considered the most common. The bushes give a good harvest and save space on the site.
- Semi-creeping varieties are extremely rare. Experienced gardeners recommend planting this particular variety.
- Repairing blackberry - allows you to harvest 2 crops per season: June, August.
Care features
It gives a rich harvest on well-fed land. In upright varieties, young stems must be tied up. Planting blackberries in a trench strictly along the line, otherwise there may be difficulties in care. During the fruiting period, the bushes need to be watered abundantly.
Honeysuckle
Edible varieties of honeysuckle are popularly called "rejuvenating berries". The name did not appear by chance, since the berries contain an element of youth - selenium. Shrubs bloom beautifully, so they are often used for decorative purposes. However, to a greater extent, the berry is valued as a useful storehouse of vitamins.
It ripens in mid-May. The berry has a slightly bitter specific taste.
Honeysuckle varieties
- Long-fruited honeysuckle - medium-sized bushes are distinguished by the cylindrical shape of the berries.
- Hybrid varieties - bred by breeders by crossing berry varieties.
- Mid-late varieties - allow you to harvest honeysuckle until late autumn.
Care features
Bushes do not tolerate shade well. When choosing a place for landing, it is better to give preference to sunny places. Suitable for planting both in autumn and spring. In the spring, this must be done before the start of the growing season. Honeysuckle grows slowly so that the bush takes root and fructifies well, it is fed.
Bushes 6-8 years old require sanitary pruning. Dead branches must be removed... Young shoots do not need to be cut.
Currant
Perennial currant bushes can be found in garden plots and plantations. Berries are famous for their taste and useful properties. Bushes, unpretentious to care for, allow you to collect rich crops. It is almost impossible to choose one single variety for the site. The best option would be to grow several species at once. Saplings adequately overcome the harsh cataclysms of nature in a cold winter.
Varieties of currants
- Black currant of early, medium and late ripening. Large-fruited varieties are considered the most popular.
- Red currant - differs in more weighty bunches. Bushes can grow without replanting up to 20 years.
- White currant - a variety in taste and benefits is not inferior to red.
- Hybrid varieties - bred by breeding gooseberry and currant varieties.
Care features
Produces a good harvest in well-drained soil. Cannot be planted in an acidic environment. Loosening of the soil is required during the growing season. Do not allow the soil to dry out; in dry weather, it is necessary to provide watering.
In the fall, you need to rejuvenate the bushes by pruning outdated branches.
Blueberry
In many regions, it is considered a rare berry. Most often it can be found in the wild. There is a growing interest among gardeners in growing promising varieties on their plots. Thanks to proper care, you can have a good harvest of healthy berries.
Blueberries resemble blueberries in appearance.
Blueberry varieties
- Tall varieties - feel good as a hedge. Their bushes are branched, the berries are intense, blue or blue.
- Low-growing blueberry - blooms magnificently in spring, pleases with excellent harvests and neat bushes.
- Southern varieties - were eaten away by hybridization for cultivation in arid climates.
Care features
At home, it is better to grow not wild, but more adapted cultivated varieties. Bushes take root well regardless of the method of planting by seeds or dividing the bush. Pruning is carried out on adult bushes, starting from 5-6 years of plant life.
Blueberries are very picky about the soil, they need to create fertile conditions.
Sea buckthorn
Sea buckthorn bushes can be found near water bodies, which is why they are often called "sea thorn". Experienced gardeners manage to successfully grow it in their plots. The use of berries is very wide, they are mainly used for medicinal purposes. Sea buckthorn oil is considered especially valuable.
Varieties of sea buckthorn
- Early, middle and late ripening are garden varieties of sea buckthorn.
- Botanical variety - practically has no thorns.
- Large-fruited varieties are sweeter in taste, do not have thorns.
Care features
The bush will bear fruit if a female and male specimen of sea buckthorn is planted next to... For the winter, it requires covering the soil, it does not tolerate severe frosts very well. Pruning is carried out in the spring. A bush aged 8-12 years old requires rejuvenation under the stump. Watering the plant is not necessary, unless in drought.
Irga
A beautiful plant is often used as an ornamental shrub. And only a few people know how useful berries grow on it. Having once tasted irgi berries, the gardener will definitely want to plant a bush in his area. The plant is not only useful, but also winter-hardy, withstands harsh weather conditions.
To the taste, dirge berries are somewhat reminiscent of cherries.
Irgi varieties
- Alder-leaved irga is a shrub abundantly blooming in spring. In autumn, the leaves are painted with a bright color. From a plant you can get up to 10 kg of berries.
- Canadian Irga is a tall, tree-like shrub. The berries are fleshy and tasty.
- Irga blood-red is a slender, medium-sized shrub. The berries are very juicy, with a thin, delicate skin.
Care features
It is considered an unpretentious plant, practically does not require maintenance. Shrubs love abundant watering, especially during the growing season.
The first 2-3 years it is necessary to form a bush by cutting. At a later age, the plant is rejuvenated.
Berries attract birds; crops must be harvested in a timely manner as they ripen.
By planting several varieties of shrubs, you can diversify the assortment of fruit seedlings in the garden. Regarding the choice of plants, it is so great that it will not be possible to advise anything with confidence. Species and varieties must be selected taking into account the individual characteristics of the plants.