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Who
said fruits and vegetables
can’t be show-offs
in the ornamental beds?
Mix fruits and veggies
into you flower and shrub
borders to add drama,
texture, color and food!
Displaying white flowers,
tinged in pink, in little
tassels during late spring,
blueberries will grow
only in moist, peaty soil
with a pH lower than 5.5.
The best way to grow them
is in an informal border
or along a woodland setting
with other acid-loving
plants like rhododendrons.
To ensure good pollination,
two different cultivars
should be planted together.
Plants should be protected
from birds with netting
when the fruit begins
to ripen. Apply cotton
seed meal to
the soil in spring, water
regularly during dry summers,
and prune the plants in
winter by cutting out
dead or damaged branches.
You can also lightly trim
plants in spring to keep
them compact. Blueberries
are rarely attacked by
insects or diseases, but
will look chlorotic if
the soil is not acid enough.
Although not particularly
ornamental, brambles,
when trained on wires,
offer a nice summer screen,
or they can be grown against
a fence or wall. Both
Raspberries and Blackberries
require slightly acidic
soil, adequate moisture,
and will need support.
Plants will succeed in
light shade, but prefer
a sunny location. Mulch
in early spring with manure
or compost,
then cut old canes down
to the ground after fruiting
in early to mid-summer.
No more than 5 to 6 strong
stems should grow from
each plant. Protect fruit
from birds and squirrels.
In the past few years,
strawberry plants have
been increasingly grown
for their ornamental qualities.
Beautiful white flowers
with yellow centers become
delicious, glowing red
strawberries. When choosing
cultivars, be sure to
try some June-bearing
and ever-bearing selections,
as well as alpine varieties
that are perfect for edging
a path. Strawberries require
deep, well-drained, nutrient-rich
soil (see our article
on “healthy soil”
in the What’s Bugging
You section of our site),
plant in early spring
and replace plants every
three years for best results.
Fertilize in spring and
cut off runners as they
form to keep plants fruiting
well, unless you are starting
new transplants. Spread
salt hay
around plants as fruit
starts to develop to keep
the berries free from
soil and well ventilated.
Protect from birds and
watch for slugs and botrytis
(moldy, grey fungus) with
wet springs.
Trained over an arbor
or combined with clematis
on a pergola, grapes add
an elegant touch to any
landscape. Plant grapes
in well-drained, fertile
soil where there is full
sun. When growing on a
trellis, limit your grapevine
to a single stem or trunk.
Train the leading shoot
vertically and the lateral
shoots horizontally. There
are also various other
ways to train and prune
grapes, but do not let
this task scare you. Grapevines
are very forgiving.
Offering beautifully colored
stalks of pink, white
or red, rhubarb can be
grown in any kind of soil
in a sunny spot. You can
pick from this trouble-free
plant from spring until
early summer. Only the
stems of rhubarb are edible,
the leaves are to be discarded.
Add plenty of manure to
the soil, keep damp during
dry summers, and remove
tall stems before they
produce flowers. Although
decorative, they tend
to reduce plant vigor.
Divide every five years.
Watch for “tunneling”
insects on the leaves
and treat with rotenone.
Adding an air of distinction,
where space is limited,
a fig tree can be grown
in a large pot. Forgiving
figs do well in poor soil,
but need a sunny, protected
area, which may mean a
south-facing wall. These
ancient trees tend to
produce more fruit when
their root systems are
restricted. Therefore,
when planting in the ground,
it is a good idea to dig
a hole about 3 feet wide
and line with bricks.
Mix plenty of bone
meal in with
the soil, too. Mulch fig
trees in late spring with
compost and water in dry
weather while the fruit
is growing. You can also
encourage these trees
to produce more fruit
by pinching new shoots
in spring.
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