Why don’t my berries look like my neighbor’s?
Why don’t my berries look like this? Last spring I pruned my berries exactly the same way my neighbor does (cut off at the base in early spring) and got nada. We both have raspberries. Mine are black; hers are red. My blackberry plants are thornless.
Though not hard to prune, these berry bushes are three different species and must be pruned differently. Red raspberries (fall-bearing or primocane-bearing type) are the simpliest. They grow new canes each spring that produce fruit their first year in late summer. Cut them down to about 2 inches from the ground in late fall or early spring. However, your black raspberries and blackberries produce fruit on second-year old canes. So if you cut down all the canes each spring, you are cutting off all the fruit-producing canes. What makes them easy to prune is that, once black raspberry and blackberry canes have finished fruiting, they start to die. By the next spring, these used-up canes are brown—they have no green. So, you simply clean out old, dead canes in spring. Both can grow very long green canes. Some thornless blackberry cultivars produce canes over 10 feet long! Shorten both to about 5 feet. Head back side branches (laterals) to about 1 foot during the growing season to encourage more berries.
If bird numbers are plummeting, should I put out bird seed all year round? I usually only put out seed in the cold months.
Baby birds cannot digest seeds. The best thing you can do is grow caterpillars for them, by growing plants that caterpillars browse on. Parent birds don’t skavage far for their baby’s food, so they need food supplies in our yards near their nests. Caterpillars are a relatively big meal, soft and high in protein, fat and carotenoids. Carotenoids are antioxidants essential for their immune system, sperm vitality, and vision. Makes caterpillars sound appetizing, almost. Landscapes need native plants, with up to 30% non-native plants, for bird survival. Trees are vital. Oaks, especially, are caterpillar machines—even with all the munching, they still look great. Parks alone cannot save our environment, so our back yards have become essential. Looked at that
way, what’s a little hole in a leaf?
University of Maryland Extension’s Home and Garden Information Center offers free gardening and pest information at extension.umd.edu/hgic. Click “Ask Maryland’s Gardening Experts” to send questions and photos.