Neglected raspberry and strawberry garden

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clematiscottage Quadra Island, BC(Zone 7b) Feb 25, 2009

When we moved in, there was a smallish garden area fenced off to deter the deer. It was chock full of grass that was waist high or even taller. We were able to see that there were several raised beds and they looked to be full of strawberries. A couple of weeks later, winter set in and we weren't able to do any more. A neighbor has told us that the beds are full of everbearing strawberries.

With all the grass now flattened by our unusually heavy snow this winter (It's doing it again today!), we were able to get out and have a look earlier this week. There are four raised beds full of the berries, which are also growing in the ground between the beds. Some of them have really big leaves and others are smaller. I seem to recall reading somewhere a long, long time ago that you should dig up the older plants and discard them just keeping the young ones. Does anyone know if this is the case or should we just leave them to get on with it?

There is one bed which appears to be empty but maybe something is planted there so I'll wait a while and see if anything other than grass pops up.

Then, at the far end of this garden, we discovered what appears to be some raspberry canes - or maybe blackberries. The wire supports, posts, grass and canes are all laying on the ground. Again, we have no idea what these are. some of the canes appear to be dead and others look like they are still kicking (or pricking in their case). It's going to be a heck of a job to weed out the grass and to get the supports up again without getting prickled to death. It's just a big tangled mess.

Should we try to re-support the live canes and get rid of the rest or chop everything down to the ground? Any suggestions?

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LTilton Glen Ellyn, IL(Zone 5b) Feb 25, 2009

I would start by replacing the berries in one or two of the beds and letting the others go to see what you get this year. Establish a rotation.

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clematiscottage Quadra Island, BC(Zone 7b) Feb 25, 2009

Thanks. I think I'm gonna have to dig everything over at some point anyway - there's just too much grass to pull out. Someone told me that this garden produces the best strawberries on the island so maybe I'll try to keep at least some to see how they taste. I'm not a big fan of those huge egg-sized berries that have no taste at all - I'm told these are smaller and tastier.

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LTilton Glen Ellyn, IL(Zone 5b) Feb 26, 2009

IF the berries are really good, you can dig them out and replant the younger plants in cleaned-out beds.

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clematiscottage Quadra Island, BC(Zone 7b) Feb 26, 2009

Good plan - if the snow ever melts, I'll do that as soon as I can find them again.

Thanks again.

Anne

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