This website has nothing to do with TV personality Paul James,
             The Gardener Guy of Tulsa, Oklahoma

About Me / Contact Me!

Perennial Fruits and Vegetables

If you are considering adding landscape plants to your yard try thinking outside the box: instead of choosing traditional shrubs like barberries or rhododendrons, what about blueberries, elderberries or raspberries? Or plant strawberries to border a sunny bed instead of annual flowers. And if you worry about birds "stealing" your harvest, please remember that these are the same birds you probably feed all winter!

A successful garden depends on many factors, chief among them adequate sunshine, good soil and appropriate amounts of water. Most perennial fruits and vegetables require at least 6 hours of sunshine a day to succeed and produce fruit. The more sun, the more fruit.

A soil test performed by your state Extension Service is a good investment. You need to know if you have adequate organic matter, minerals and if the pH (a measure of acidity) is appropriate for what you want to grow. Almost any soil can benefit from a generous helping of compost, too.

Perennial fruits and vegetables need about an inch of water per week - either from Mother Nature or from your hose. Traveling a lot? Forgetful? Think about an automatic timer and a drip system. Watering wands are great if you have to limit water use - you can direct the water directly to the plants, not to the walkways - or weeds! The soil should be well drained, but retain moisture after watering.

If you have crummy soil - heavy clay, or very sandy - you may wish to grow your plants in raised beds so that you can build the soil needed. A 50-50 mix of compost and top soil is, in general, a good mix. Perennial plants tend to have deeper root systems than annuals like lettuce and tomatoes, so go with boxes 8 inches deep or more.

One of the easiest ways to keep down weeds and hold in moisture is with mulch. You can use chipped wood products, leaves or grass clippings, too. Natural mulches break down, adding organic material to the soil.

Here are a few tips on some of my favorite perennial fruits and vegetables.

Asparagus: Modern cultivars in the "Jersey" series produce all-male plants, which produce much higher yields than older varieties (Washington series). Plant roots 6" deep after stirring in half a cup of all purpose organic fertilizer in a 16 inch diameter circle. Add 2" of compost or rotted manure to the soil, and stir that in, too. Spread out the roots and cover with 2 inches of soil; after the seedlings grow, keep adding soil until the holes are filled. Weeds are terrible enemies of asparagus, so mulch and weed carefully to keep them at bay. Then wait: you don't get to pick for 3 years.

Blueberries: The keys to success are to have the proper pH or level of acidity, and to keep the weeds down. Blueberries need very acidic soil, so test yours, and then add garden sulfur or acidic fertilizer to bring the soil to a pH of 4.0-5.5. This is best done the fall before planting. Top dress with sulfur or a fertilizer for acid -loving plants yearly right after blooming. Hardy to minus 30 degrees F.

Kiwis: This climbing vine can be trellised on a fence or wall with support. In spring the "Arctic Beauty" variety sports tri-colored leaves: pink, white and green. Plant in rich soil amended with compost; keep the soil lightly moist. Northern gardeners can grow this plant because it survives temperatures down to minus 40 degrees. I've never tried them, but hear they do well ˙ã but with small fruit.

Rhubarb: Grown for its stalks, rhubarb can be grown with less sunshine than the berry plants as it is not making fruits, which require lots of energy. Four hours of sunshine is sufficient. Add a bucket of compost and a cup of organic fertilizer with each plant. Plant it where the soil stays lightly moist for best results.

Raspberries: If you like raspberries, this is a must for your landscape: they don't travel well and are expensive to buy. Because the plants tend to multiply and spread by root, this is a good plant to grow in a raised bed that will contain it. Plant in full sun in rich soil amended with compost and organic fertilizer. Hardy to minus 30 F.

Strawberries: All-season (or day-neutral) strawberries produce a few white blossoms and red berries all summer long, with a nice big crop in the fall. Plant in full sun in rich, well drained soil. Amend the soil with compost and organic fertilizer at planting time. Hardy to minus 30F. They run out of steam after 3 or 4 years, but replant easily.

Gardening is always a combination of work and fun. If you want to minimize the work and still harvest some food, the plants should be in your garden. And remember: good soil is the key to success. Take some extra time to work in compost and get rid of the weeds, and you'll do just fine.

Henry Homeyer is a gardening coach and garden designer and the author of 3 gardening books. Contact him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or P.O. Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746.