You’ve probably realized that just acquiring a garden plot doesn’t guarantee you’ll have a thriving garden. It takes a lot of hard work, especially if the soil is poor and requires special preparation. Your plot needs specific cultivation techniques.
Our research shows that with the right pre-planting preparation, sandy soil can support the growth of raspberries, red and black currants, gooseberries, and other berry bushes, producing good harvests.
So what’s the secret to cultivating light-textured soils? First, sandy soils are low in organic and mineral nutrients and they don’t retain water well. Those two problems need to be fixed before the soil can support healthy plants. Start by bringing peat and clay onto your plot. Level the area where you plan to plant your berry bushes. Then, along the future planting rows, dig a trench 1.5 to 2 feet wide. The row length depends on the layout of your plot.
At the bottom of the trench, lay a 2 to 3-inch layer of clay, which will require about 110 to 150 pounds of material per linear meter of trench. On top of the clay, add a 4 to 6-inch layer of peat (about 150 pounds per linear meter of trench). Use well-decomposed, moist lowland peat for this layer. Fill the rest of the trench with the topsoil you removed while digging. Do this work in the fall. A snowy winter will help the peat retain moisture, which is crucial for the plants during the growing season.
The clay layer acts as a water barrier, while the peat layer does two jobs: it absorbs and holds water (one volume of peat can absorb up to ten volumes of water) and it supplies organic matter.
After filling the trench, apply phosphorus and potassium fertilizers on the surface in the fall at a rate of 80 grams of superphosphate and 40 grams of potassium sulfate per square meter. Apply nitrogen fertilizers in the spring at a rate of 80 grams per square meter. Incorporate these fertilizers into the soil to a depth of 4 to 5 inches.
Plant raspberries toward the end of winter, right after the ground thaws. Choose varieties that resist pests and diseases, are winter-hardy, and are high-yielding. Also select self-pollinating varieties with a compact bush form.
Plan the planting layout carefully. For raspberries, space rows 6 to 8 feet apart and plants 10 to 14 inches apart within the row. Dense planting prevents gaps if some plants fail to take and quickly forms a fruiting strip, allowing you to harvest 2 to 3 pounds of raspberries per 6.5 feet of row by the second year, and 4 to 13 pounds by the third year and beyond.
The width of the fruiting strip should be about 1.5 to 2 feet. Leave 14 to 16 strong, evenly spaced shoots on the surface. Prune in spring and summer when shoots reach 12 to 16 inches so you can easily tell strong shoots from weak ones. Remove the weaker shoots at soil level with pruning shears to avoid damaging the rest. This reduces the leaf area that transpires, letting the remaining shoots use moisture and nutrients more effectively.
For currants and gooseberries, space rows 5 to 6.5 feet apart and space plants 1.5 to 2.5 feet apart within each row. Adjust spacing depending on how compact each variety’s bushes are.
One more crucial point: because replacement shoots grow vigorously at the start of the season, the plants pull moisture from the soil quickly. In years with prolonged spring–summer droughts this can dry out the area and hurt growth and yield. Recharge the soil with moisture by watering. Create soil mounds on either side of the raspberry rows about 3 to 4 inches high. Apply three heavy water doses per linear meter, spread gradually over 1 to 1.5 hours so the water absorbs. Water in the evening to minimize evaporation.
Follow these guidelines to achieve excellent berry harvests in your garden.
