Berry patch planning

I was wondering if you all could give me some advice. I have 12 blackberry plants(potted, 2 varieties an 6 of each variety), 3 red raspberries  (bare root), and 3 hello raspberries(bare root). They are all primocane and thornless. They just came in the mail today from a stark Bro’s!

I was planning on planting the blackberries on row 1 and 2 & all six of the raspberries on row 3.
The section with 4,5,and 6 is where we plan to expand to next year. We intended on doing all three rows in blueberries.


I am questioning if I should change this plan to:
1. Blackberry
2. Blackberry
3. Yellow raspberry
4. Build up a row tomorrow and plant the 3 red raspberries
5&6. Leave for blueberries next year.

I’m considering this because I feel like it may be more wise to have each single variety in their own row(instead of combining the red and yellow raspberry)
I have also been told that raspberries spread fast(like blackberries) and so it would be good to have a larger space for each variety.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks!!!

great stuff, when planting perennials as long as your sure where you want them and optimal conditions are taken into account, get them in the ground. perennials are the plants that keep giving year after year are my favorites, not that I don't like eating fresh peas and stuff as they are picked but stuff like your berries can be appreciated for generations

I would probably keep the types of raspberry seperate, My thinking is that if one of them is a faster grower than the other it may take over a shared patch and squeeze the other one out.

Raspberries do spread fast but in a different way to blackberries, I like to keep raspberries somewhere where they can be mown round as they sucker something terrible!

We put raspberries in our garden and they send suckers up to 6' away.  They're popping up everywhere.  We dig them out and pot some up but it's an annual struggle.  So if you put them in the garden, put them somewhere where you can manage their suckers as easily as possible.  Burying something to block them may very well be worth it.

I planted some yellow raspberries out in my food forest and plan to surround them with rhubarb this spring.  I hope the fibrous roots of the rhubarb act as a barrier.  We'll see...

Raspberries do sucker like crazy, it's great! I try to keep them out of my veggie patch, just let them grow wherever they pop up until autumn, then dig them all up and start a new patch out of the way. Works, if you don't mind a bit of a messy garden, or have a lot of land.
My raspberries are pink and give in spring and autumn in wet years. The first spot i covered was shaded, they gave loads and i got lots of suckers, which i moved to a sunny spot. Which don't do so well there in hot dry years, but because i got the two different areas i've always had fruit every year now. In wet years, the ones in the sunny spot did great in wetter years, the ones in shady bits did better in hot dry years. And in general, they like to be many, they need space it seems, which they can occupy. They die as easily as they pop up by the way.
When heavy with fruit they bend down, i think they will go over your pathway or you need to bang in two poles on both ends and connect a string/cord in between. If they touch the ground, you get snails on them more often.
Blackberries need more permanent support. I've seen people growing them along fences, just wind them through. When they bend over and touch the ground they will root there, especially if you put a rock on them. The next year it starts growing strong agin, until it touches the ground again and roots there. You can get it to go all along a fence like that. They're not very strong immediately when they touched the ground and rooted, don't move them before giving the root system a year to establish.
Same for the Japanese wineberry, let them grow along a fence and they will go down and grow roots, let them be for a year before moving or just let them attached to the motherfence. That's why a fence is so great for these kinds of plants, they're not in the way there and can fill the whole thing so you don't see it as much.

Two things come to mind  from our experience.  Give plenty of room between rows.  Ours are 6 ft between rows.  Do not plant red and yellow raspberries close to each other.  The reds are typically more vigorous and will choke out your yellows if not planted far enough apart.  We have 2 50ft rows of reds and a 30 ft row of yellows.  The reds are on one side of the garden the yellows are planted at one end of the garden.  You really have to keep ahead of the root suckers or any of them will colonize the areas around them and you will have a jungle.  

I love this community! Such great advice! I’m going to change my plan and put raspberries in rows 1&4. Blackberries in 2&3.

Hugo Morvan wrote:Raspberries do sucker like crazy, it's great! I try to keep them out of my veggie patch, just let them grow wherever they pop up until autumn, then dig them all up and start a new patch out of the way. Works, if you don't mind a bit of a messy garden, or have a lot of land.
My raspberries are pink and give in spring and autumn in wet years. The first spot i covered was shaded, they gave loads and i got lots of suckers, which i moved to a sunny spot. Which don't do so well there in hot dry years, but because i got the two different areas i've always had fruit every year now. In wet years, the ones in the sunny spot did great in wetter years, the ones in shady bits did better in hot dry years. And in general, they like to be many, they need space it seems, which they can occupy. They die as easily as they pop up by the way.
When heavy with fruit they bend down, i think they will go over your pathway or you need to bang in two poles on both ends and connect a string/cord in between. If they touch the ground, you get snails on them more often.
Blackberries need more permanent support. I've seen people growing them along fences, just wind them through. When they bend over and touch the ground they will root there, especially if you put a rock on them. The next year it starts growing strong agin, until it touches the ground again and roots there. You can get it to go all along a fence like that. They're not very strong immediately when they touched the ground and rooted, don't move them before giving the root system a year to establish.
Same for the Japanese wineberry, let them grow along a fence and they will go down and grow roots, let them be for a year before moving or just let them attached to the motherfence. That's why a fence is so great for these kinds of plants, they're not in the way there and can fill the whole thing so you don't see it as much.

I had intended on doing 2 posts and wire to hold them in. I do have plenty of cattle panels that I could also use instead of wire. To simulate a fence?

My opinion only, I wouldn't do the cattle panels.  Seems to me that they would make your access harder.  I'd go with posts and wire.

Hi Taylor, nice spot by the way.You need a strong frame for cattle panels as well. I've made a rustique fence of hazel sticks and acacia standing poles, attached the blackberries to them, over under, around. I've got some wire as well for the japanese wineberries, but it's not very pretty coming to think of it. Maybe cattle panel is nicer, because it's rusty. I'd love to have some big panels to build a high tunnel with.
Raspberries are on the pic too on the right, in half shade. You don't see the blackberry very well on this pic, they're more on the left side.