posted 1 year ago
Eric is right: Making a mixture of brambles would not work so well with the cross pollination. Blueberries require acid soil so you would not want to mix them in either.
Have you ever tried layering your brambles? That is the fastest way to get a solid hedge from just a few plants. The first year, take advantage of their pliability in the spring to bend them down all the way. Go heavy on the nitrogen: You want a lot of green growth, Sacrifice the fruit for the first year. Pin them if you have to, cover them with a bit of dirt. You are going for a lot of vegetative growth. [You will still get plenty of raspberries! You will establish a pretty solid row [Every few inches on this first cane, you will get a new plant if you proceed like this]. Do it again the second year and perhaps the next until you are satisfied with the impenetrability of your hedge.
The canes are biennial, growing in year one, fruiting in year 2 dying in year 3. You must not neglect removing the dead canes in year 3 and every succeeding year: they invite bad bugs, make picking a miserable chore, they weaken the plant as long as they are attached to it. You may lay them alongside/ widen the row by using the clippings. For a healthy hedge, you will also need mulch. The dead canes can be part of that mulch.
It isn't that hard as the dead canes, at the end of the season will be brown while the new canes will be green. 500 feet is a freaking lot of canes to deal with, though. Courage! There will be lots of raspberries to enjoy!
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