Topic: How to plant an edible hedge along my boundary

[carlby]

Hi

I bought some Aldi fruit bushes as I mentioned in a previous post (tayberry/gooseberry/loganberry/blueberry/goji berry).

I am busy clearing a new allotment, but I've decided I'd like to plant these along the boundary between us and our neighbours.  I've cut the weeds there down to the ground and covered with plastic for the moment.

I'd like to ask:-

1.  How should I prepare the ground for planting;

2.  How far from the boundary should I plant them (our neighbour's path takes a few inches of our plot so if the fruit bushes encroach slightly this is not a problem, but I don't want to make the path unuseable for them).

3. How far from each other should I plant the bushes?

Thanks in advance.

[jennym]

I'd dig the ground over thoroughly, remove any perennial weeds and incorporate some horse muck.

For blueberry bushes you need to have an acidic soil, if the soil is alkaline they don't thrive at all. You may need to dig a very large pit for the blueberry bushes and fill it with purchased ericaceous compost ( the sort that's suitable for rhodedendrons is fine).

Some of the plants you've got are free standing, and some will need posts and wire to support them, so you will need to put these in before you plant out.

Gooseberry and blueberry will grow to be a free standing bush needing no support, about a metre diameter, maybe more, and about a metre tall. Then you need to allow about a metre between them. They don't send generally out underground sucker shoots so are fine for a boundary by a path. You should get some fruit in about 3 years.

Goji berry is a relatively new one on me, a neighbour has one and it's a free standing bush about a metre and a half high and the same diameter in about 4 years. He hasn't had fruit yet. I don't think it suckers but don't know.

The loganberry and tayberry need posts and wire to support them. They send out long stems which you train along the wires. Stems that grow this year will fruit next year, you cut the fruited stems down to the ground in autumn, after fruiting, and leave any new stems that have grown so that they will produce fruit the following year.
You need to allow at least 3 metres between plants and around 2 metres width, so if you plant the loganberry and tayberry along posts and wire you will need to allow a space approx 6 metres long by approx 2 metres wide.
Both tayberry and loganberry will send out underground sucker shoots which may become a problem if you site the fruit right next to a path.

[Digeroo]

My goji from Aldi not a free standing bush could also do with support.  It has totally different leaves to the ones I grew from seed.  But they also need support being very floppy.  So if the leaves are two to three times the length to width they will need a trellis, if they are six to eigth lines length to width you will get away with it longer.  Not very big on producing fruit, so would not put them in the middle of the row except perhaps next to the logan or tay which will turn out much bigger than expected but can produce a clone to fill the gap  if you decide the goji was a waste of time.

How odd never had suckers from my Tayberry or Logan.  For me they will root from the ends of any shoots which touch the ground in the autumn, so if you want extra plants pin some down otherwise keep them off the ground.   Tayberry are very very prickly so you may find they are unwelcome next to a path if they hang over.  

[shirlton]

We have a gooseberry hedge all sown the side of our plot. The reason we planted it was because it was originally going to be last plot before the fence. Due to the demand for plots it was later let out. We do have 2ft paths between our 2 plots and along the gooseberry side too.
The gooseberries were going to be cordon until Tony learned how to prune them so now they are a hedge and I must say that they spread a good foot over the path.
Thankfully we have an understanding neighbour, so much so that he said that we could net them next year and take up half of the path to pin the net down as the pigeons ate them this year.
In return for his  good nature we said that he could pick the fruit from his side.I dread to think what would have happened if he had been otherwise.
Think carefully before you decide where to plant your fruit because even when pruned they spread

[carlby]

Lots to think about there, thanks.

Seems most of them would be undesirable by a path, due to being prickly, or sending out shoots.  But then again, we didn't ask the neighbours to site their path by our boundary (and taking up some of our plot).  Still, don't want to inconvenience them. Hmm...not sure what to do!

[carlby]

I've been having a think.  Would it be possible to train all of the fruit bushes along posts?

[Digeroo]

I should have thought that with support you could keep them under control and if it encroaches on the path on your side of the boundary so be it.

Why have you neighbours got a path on your plot?  I think I would very firmly claim it back.  Perhaps something very prickly is the answer.

[carlby]

Ha ha.  Thanks Didgereedoo.  The allotment management divided the allotment into two wrongly (although how they didn't see the difference in sizes is beyond me!).  Plus the other plot holders were there before us and made the decision to run a shared path along the boundary.  They have maybe half a metre more give or take but we're not going to sweat it as we will probably struggle to keep everything up anyway.

[goodlife]

Code: [Select]

Would it be possible to train all of the fruit bushes along posts?  :-\ Not totally impossible..but in practice veeery difficult.
Blueberries are naturally bushy..depending of the variety..some are very short so those are no no..but varieties do grow large, up to 1.5m tall if not even bit more..those could be tied in some amount.. :-\
Gogi berries grow up to 10ft tall..given chance..but the new stem are leggy so they woud defiantely benefit from tying in...propably would fruit better too of not pruned regurlarly.
Gooseberries..you could train..but it needs to be regular job or you find yourself with very unruly and very prickly boundary.. :-X Being honest..they would do better if grown as bush.. ;)