Why Your Raised Bed Garden Is One Of The Worst Places To Grow Berries

Most home gardeners would look at a raised garden bed as a great idea. When you use a raised bed in your garden, you control the size and access. You also choose the soil, irrigation is easier, and maintenance is simpler. In general, you have more control than you would over typical plots. Depending on where you live, your native soil might be very poor for growing the kinds of plants that you want; a raised bed lets you circumvent that problem. While you can grow almost anything that your climate will allow in a raised bed, you should avoid planting berries.

The problem with planting berries in a raised bed is two-fold. To start with, berries require a lot of space. Blueberries and raspberries each require two square feet per plant. And a blackberry bush should have three square feet all to itself. Compare that to something like a tomato plant, which only needs one square foot.  When it comes to flowers, you could get up to 12 tulips per square foot. So berries are take up a lot of room. In a typical yard, that should be easy to manage. But in a garden box, that space is at a premium.

Berries also prefer soil that is slightly acidic, which is why blueberries thrive in Maine. Typical garden soil in North America is fairly neutral. To grow something like blueberries well, you're going to need more acidic soil, which would be good for the berries but poor for most plants nearby.  If you are using typical garden center topsoil, your garden box will not be acidic enough.

The reason that blueberries and other berries require more acidic soil has to do with the availability of nutrients. As soil becomes less acidic, meaning a higher pH, zinc and iron become less available. Berries need those minerals — they have simple roots that do not absorb nutrients the same as other plants. This is why berries thrive in forests, where they gain nutrients from the rotting plant matter and fungus there. Even farmers nearly gave up on blueberries back in the day.

There are many types of plants that will grow poorly alongside berries. Tomatoes, for instance, need more alkaline soil. Tomatoes and blueberries together would compete in a way that harms both. Once you know what kind of soil your plants prefer, then you can decide what goes in the garden box and what can be planted elsewhere.

Since most berries don't like being crowded with other plants, it's best to grow them on their own. If space truly is at a premium, and you don't have a yard to plant in, consider having a dedicated garden box just for berries. That way, you can still control the acidity, and you don't have to worry about how it will affect other plants. If you have enough space, then planting those berries directly in the ground is your best bet. If you need tips on starting your own edible garden, we have you covered.