Gardening by Osmosis

Raspberries

 

Last updated 6/23/2022 at 7:44am



My sister makes the best raspberry pie. She says the ticket to growing healthy berries is to start with new plants. Raspberries are not fussy about soil pH and seem happy with Spokane County gardens' soils. Prepare the soil with a balanced fertilizer and organic amendments early in the spring, then plant bare-root raspberry canes about two feet apart. Raspberries grow a long time. I planted some when my baby was two and they produced until he graduated from high school.

A raspberry's first-year growth, the primocane, is spent growing leaves. The floricane or second year's growth produces berries. After the floricane is finished fruiting, prune it to the ground for maximum production.

There are two main types of raspberries, summer-bearing and fall-bearing. If you're not sure which is which, prune the canes with no new growth to the ground in the spring.

Raspberries are not fond of weeds, so do your best to eliminate them.

Summer-bearing varieties include Canby, Chilcotin, and Willamette. Good choices for fall-bearing raspberries are Heritage and the yummy, yellow raspberry Fallgold.

Other scrumptious berries such as blackberries, boysenberries, loganberries, and blueberries re-quire weather and soil conditions more typical to the western part of the state. Still, it is fun to experiment with them.

Another spring treat is rhubarb. Once established, this long-lived perennial can be depended upon to produce thick stalks used in pies, sauces, and other baked delights.

Cut the flower stems to the ground to extend the season's production of edible stalks.

My property was settled over a hundred years ago and rhubarb someone planted then still pro-duces juicy red stalks. The personal umbrella-sized leaves are beautiful, but they are the only poisonous part of the plant, so discard the leaves.

I took a class once and learned how to press the leaves in cement to make stepping stones in my garden. The leaf-shaped pathway gave attractive charm to the garden.

I think I say this every year—this is the most beautiful spring I have ever seen. The welcome rains and sun dashes have contributed an almost coastal allure to our landscapes. With this abun-dance of moisture, we are bound to see challenges in the garden in the form of seeds rotting in the cold soil and leggy plants reaching for the light. Many garden centers have replacement plants ready to fill in those bare spots. Check containers before purchasing and look for plants with established roots but not roots so matted the containers are bulging.

Aphids are incredibly productive in this environment. I find the best method to remove them is to spray the leaves under and on the top sides with a strong blast of water. Of course, I can't reach the tops of the maple trees, so lady beetles and other insects will have to have them for lunch. There are aphids for nearly everything with green leaves. And they come in many colors too. Most aphids don't cause too much trouble, but when their populations are large and their secretion of honey-due is significant, black sooty mold fungus is attracted to the host plant.

– Please contact the WSU Spokane County Master Gardeners @ http://spokane-county.wsu.edu/spokane/ or call 509-477-2181 for more information. Master Gardeners are also available at the Cheney Library on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month from April to October.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 

Our Family of Publications Includes:

Cheney Free Press
Ritzville Adams County Journal
Whitman County Gazette
Odessa Record
Franklin Connection
Davenport Times
Spokane Valley News Herald
Colfax Daily Bulletin

Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation
© Copyright 2024

Rendered 03/09/2024 06:20