1. Small Fruits for Maryland Gardens
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2. College of
Agriculture and
Natural Resources

3. Reasons to grow small fruits
Better flavor and quality than store-bought
Save $$
Health benefits- high in nutrients and anti-oxidants
Versatile- ornamental value, support wildlife
Perennial plants that produce reliable crops
Can be grown without pesticides

4. Small fruits for Maryland
Major- strawberry, blackberry*, raspberry,* blueberry*, grape*
Minor- currant, gooseberry, jostaberry, hardy kiwi, elderberry*, beach plum*, chokeberry*
*Native to mid-Atlantic region
Tree fruits
Take up more room
More expensive to plant and maintain
More pest problems
Bigger deal to remove from landscape
Too cold for muscadine grape. Native grape- Vitis labrusca is more hardy than European wine grape- Vitis vinifera.
There has been at least one report of hardy kiwi escaping a commercial planting and establishing in nearby woods. It can be a smothering vine.

5. Plan ahead
Do I have enough room? Enough time? What’s practical for me?
Start planning one year before planting
Select a full-sun, well-drained site
Amend soil to achieve correct pH and increase organic matter content
Drainage test:
How do you know whether or not your soil drains poorly? What affects does poor drainage have on plant growth, on life in the soil. What are causes of poor drainage?
Test- lay a tarp on the ground with a shovel, yardstick and watering can. Make a 12x12x12 hole in sod where poor drainage is suspected. Lay square of sod on tarp followed by soil.
Stand yard stick in hole. Fill hole with water. Tell audience that drainage is ok if water level goes down 1 in./hr. Drainage is slow if level goes down less than 1 in./hr., and drainage is too fast if level declines more than 1 in./hr.
Come back an hour later to look at level.

6. Pollination
Most small fruit plants need bees to pollinate flowers and produce a crop
Native bees (pollen bees)- bumble bees and solitary bees are responsible for more than ½ of pollination
European honey bees AND native bees are declining in number
Avoid or reduce pesticide use and don’t spray when flowers are open
The US Fish and Wild Life Service lists 50 native bee species in PA as threatened or endangered. 
Solitary bees have limited (200 yd) foraging range; bumble bees will travel 1 mile or more. Problem is small number in colony in early spring.
Orchard bees (Osmia) are more effective than EHB.
Pesticide sprays are harder on native pollinators than EHB.

7. Picking cultivars
Select well-adapted, recommended cultivars with good disease resistance. Buy high quality plants- “certified disease-free”
Bare root plants will catch up to container plants
Do I need more than one cultivar for pollination? Only for blueberry
A single strawberry, raspberry, or grape plant is self-fertile and will produce fruit. Blueberry is self-fertile but will produce more fruit and larger fruit if there are at least two different cultivars.

8. What if my plants arrive too early?
Keep roots moist and keep plants cool
“Heel in” plants outdoors OR
Keep plants in garage or refrigerator
Photo on left is a bundle of raspberry plants
Photo on right: blueberry, purple raspberry, blackberry
Plant new plants in mid-March to early April (a month or so before the last expected frost in spring).
Relocate established plants the same time in spring or after the first killing frost in fall.

9. Water and fertilizer
Regular watering the first year for a strong root system
Small fruit plants have shallow, fibrous roots that are vulnerable to drought stress
Fertilize with 1 inch of compost each spring
Use fertilizers according to recommendations (don’t over-fertilize)

10. Weeds and mulch Grass and weeds compete with fruit plants for
water and nutrients.
Use an organic mulch to
conserve soil moisture
prevent weeds and soil temperature extremes
Keep mulch away from plant crowns
Avoid herbicides

11. Common problem… snake trapped in bird netting
Solution:
Keep netting >4-inches above the ground
Eastern garter snake

12. Pruning Control size and shape
Invigorate- stimulate new shoots and fruit buds
Improve air circulation and increase sunlight interception
Renewal pruning- blueberry, grape, currant, brambles
Heading (stimulating) vs. thinning (less stimulating) cuts.

13. Strawberry Two main types for Maryland gardeners:
“June-bearing” and “everbearing” (a.k.a day-neutral)
Family: Rosaceae
Botanical name: Fragaria ananassa
Origins: derived from 2 N.A. species:
F. virginiana- Virginia scarlet strawberry
F. chiloensis- from Chile
Both species were brought back to the old world, crossed to produce F. ananassa and then returned to N.A. in 18th century.
Recommended types:
F. ananassa is the common June-bearing strawberry. So-called “everbearers” will flower during short days- they often produce a June and September crop. Day-neutral cultivars are more likely than the everbearers to flower and fruit regardless of day-length. However, neither will flower and fruit continuously in MD when temps. exceed 80ºF.
F. vesca is the wood strawberry or Fraises de bois and F. vesca sempivirens is the alpine strawberry. Neither are well-adapted to MD.
Hardiness:
Down to -20ºF if well mulched. Over-wintering is not a problem.
Botany & habit
Compressed stems with fleshy buds that produce leaves and flowers
Runners arise from axillary leaf buds
Flowers with long days; buds are formed in late Sept. as days shorten.
Aggregate fruits with ovules per flower. Seeds (achenes) imbedded in fruit skin. Flesh is enlarged receptacle. Bees required for pollination. Seed development determines size and shape of fruit.
King berries are largest- have most pistils. Each succeeding set of berries, secondary, tertiary, etc. will be smaller in size.
Site, soil, and culture:
Avoid planting in turf areas unless left fallow or in cover crop for one year (due to white grub problem.)
They like ammonium; top-dress with 3# ammonium nitrate per 100 ft. row in ;late August. Sweep fertilizer off foliage.
Mulch with 1 bale straw per 100 sq. ft. area after 3 nights below 20ºF. Cover plants completely. Floating row cover in early spring will also help protect plants from frost. Damage occurs at following temps: tight cluster (22F.), blooms (28F.), small fruit (26F.)
Strip flowers off plants first year after planting. Will fruit following year.
Beds “play out” after 3-4 years. Renew (renovate) beds after 2-3 years picking if getting crowded and less productive. Top-dress plants with 4# per 100 sq. ft. of area after harvest season. Mow plants to within 4 inches of ground and remove the debris. Narrow row to inches with tiller, rake or spade. Thin plants to 6 inches in each direction. Fertilize lightly in late Aug.. Irrigate bed throughout summer and fall!
Harvesting: Fruits are ripe 5 weeks after bloom. Usually a 3 week harvest but very variable due to spring weather conditions. Does not develop sugar off plant.

14. Blackberry Perennial crown; biennial canes
Very well adapted to all parts of Maryland
Four types:
Thorny erect (excellent flavor)
Thornless trailing (rampant canes; large fruit)
Thornless erect
Primocane-bearing, thorny erect
Primocane-bearing, thornless erect (newest!)
Relatively new primocane-bearing blackberry (thorny)- ‘Prime Ark’, ‘Prime Jim’, ‘Prime Jan’
Prime-Ark Freedom is thornless.
Natchez is early erect thornless.
Blackberry
Family: Rosaceae
Botanical name: Rubus eubatus
Origins: 400 spp. Worldwide
wild, Eastern N.A. blackberries are R. allegheniensis (erect with prickles) and R. baileyanus (trailing dewberry)
Two cultivated types are erect and semi-trailing. Cultivars derived from American-European crosses.
Recommended erect, thorn-less cultivars:
‘Apache’ - Univ. of Arkansas release; ripens earlier than Navaho but later than Arapaho.
‘Navaho’- ’88, Univ. of Arkansas (highly regarded by some MD growers)
‘Arapaho’- ’93, “ “ (ripens earlier and produces more canes from roots; very
resistant to orange rust.)
Flavor of thorny type better than thorn-less type. However, ‘Arapaho’ and ‘Navaho’ are superior
in flavor to semi-trailing cultivars ‘Chester’ and ‘Hull.’
Hardiness:
erect type- hardy down to -15ºF.
semi-trailing- hardy down to 0ºF.
trailing types (loganberry, dewberry) not hardy
blackberries can take our summer heat
Botany & habit:
perennial crown; biennial canes.
new shoots come from crown buds in spring; erect type also makes root suckers (semi-trailing do not).
flower buds are formed at the end of summer on main stems and the following spring on laterals.
Lower canes are unproductive; first 5 nodes on laterals are sterile
aggregate fruit pistils per fruit; each pistil contains 2 ovules- one develops into seed the other into drupelet. Receptacle (core) stays with harvested fruit. Bees required for pollination.
fruited canes removed at end of harvest.
Flower buds should be stripped off bottom 20 inches of floricanes.
Easy to transplant; easy to renew neglected plants by cutting them back to ground. Tip rooting of semi-trailing type can be a problem- they must be kept off ground.
Site and soil: keep 300 ft. from wild blackberries to prevent virus diseases.
Spacing: erect type- plant 2’ apart in row; maintain 1 ½ ft. wide hedgerow; 4-6 shoots per lineal ft. of row. Semi-trailing form a clump; 8’ between plants.
Harvesting: first harvest 2nd year after planting. Pick when blackberries lose their shine and become dull.

15. Left: ‘Shawnee’- thorny cultivar. Fruit at various stages of maturity.
Right: 2nd year floricanes in background. They will flower, fruit, and die by first frost. Can be removed anytime after end of harvest season by cutting at ground level. 1st year primocane in foreground emerged from roots of mother plant in early spring. It will be headed at inches to force branching and then the laterals will be pruned in summer to 24 inches or so. The primocane produces leaf and flower buds, overwinters, and becomes a floricane in year 2

16. ‘Prime-Jim’ thorny erect blackberry that bears on first-year canes in late summer through frost.
Blackberry is one of the easiest fruits to grow. For small spaces select erect, thornless erect varieties such as ‘Navaho’, ‘Arapaho’, and ‘Apache’ or grow the new “fall-bearing” varieties like ‘Prime-Ark’, ‘Prime-Jim’, and ‘Prime-Jan’ (these will produce fruit in late summer on shoots that emerge in spring). The newest cultivars such as Prime-Ark Freedom are erect and thornless.
One nice feature of primocane bearing cultivars is that you cut the entire plant down to the ground after the first killing frost.

17. Raspberry Perennial crown; biennial canes
Less heat-tolerant than blackberry, but ok for all parts of MD
Types:
Red, purple, black; June bearing
Red, yellow; primo-cane or “fall-bearing.” Cut them back to the ground in late winter or early spring.
Left: June-bearing cultivar. Once these floricanes are done fruiting they can be cut out at ground level.
Right: New shoots of ‘Caroline,’ a primocane-bearing cultivar emerging in spring. They should be thinned to a 4-6 inch spacing between shoots.

18. Red raspberry plant tied to a single wire between posts.
Black raspberry- new shoots (primocanes) are thinned to 6 inches apart.
Red raspberry plant tied to a single wire between posts.
Primocanes (1st year shoots) are pruned (a.k.a. “tipped” or headed back”) when they reach 3 to 31/2 ft. in height to encourage lateral branching. Those laterals are also cut back when they get inches long to improve fruit quality and size.

19. New raspberry plant from tip rooting
Top left: tip of this cane touches ground and roots.
Top right: a new plant emerges from a bud at the cane tip. It can be cut from the mother plant and planted.
Bottom left: the crowns of primocane bearing raspberry plants are visible. The plants had been cut back after the summer/fall harvest.
Landscape fabric laid down to suppress weeds and raspberry suckers

20. Bramble problems Orange rust Botrytis (gray mold)
Left: Orange rust- is a fungal disease that affects blackberry and black raspberry. Late leaf rust is a different pathogen that produces yellow spots on the leaves of red and purple raspberry later in the season. These are systemic pathogens. Remove entire plant.
Right: Wet, overcast weather is favorable for this cosmopolitan pathogen of bramble and strawberry fruit. Harvest frequently and prune to increase air circulation.

21. White drupelet disorder
Cane borer
White drupelet disorder
Left: Swellings along cane indicate cane borers. Prune out the injury below the swelling.
Right: white drupelet disorder is very common in raspberry and to a lesser extent in blackberry. Caused by prolonged hot, clear, dry weather. High sunlight exposure. Affected fruit have individual drupelets that are hard and white.

22. Japanese beetle is a major pest of Rose family members, including brambles and strawberry. Sweep adults into bucket of soapy water.

23. Spotted wing drosophila
Major pest now in mid-Atlantic. It is possible to trap for adults to identify the pest and to spray with spinosad (organic) to control adults. Probably not worth it in backyard planting. Malathion is also labeled for this pest.

24. Grapes
Vitis vinifera- European wine grapes (less cold-hardy than native grape and more prone to diseases)
Vitis labrusca- native fox grapes (seeded and seedless). The source of table grape cultivars like ‘Concord’
Grape
Family: Vitaceae
Botanical name: Vitis labrusca
Origins:
V. labrusca- native fox grape
V. rotundifolia- native muscadine (scuppernong is white type)
V. vinifera- European wine grape
American-European crosses
Recommended types:
Grow V. labrusca; muscadine types not hardy in MD. French-American hybrids like Seyval and Foch are OK. V. vinifera cultivars are more disease prone, are less winter hardy, and may have other specific needs related to length of growing season and site.
Hardiness:
V. labrusca- hardy down to -20ºF.
V. vinifera and hybrids more cold tender; damaged at 0ºF to -10ºF.
Botany & habit
Perennial crown; fruits on 2nd year wood. Older latent buds sometimes flower and fruit on older wood.
Very deep root system.
new shoots come from arms in spring. Shoots don’t end with terminal bud; grow all season. First year growth is a shoot; second year is cane.
Compound buds formed during summer. Buds contain 4 growing points. If primary is killed by late freeze, crop is usually cut in 1/2.
Lateral shoots grow from over-wintered buds and produce leaves and 1-2 flower clusters (panicles).
Fruit is a true berry. Bees are not required for pollination.
Spacing: ft. in row.
Harvesting: Will fruit 3 years after planting. Does not develop sugar off vine. Can be left when fully colored for up to 1 week before harvesting.
Notes: difficult to transplant; very long-lived plants if properly cared for. Failure to prune hard leads to fewer flower buds, small, poor quality fruit. Can get into biennial bearing pattern. Don’t allow more than 2 flower clusters per shoot develop. Leaves and shoots come out before flowers in spring. Must protect new growth with fungicide to prevent black rot.

25. Seedless table grape cultivars
‘Himrod’
‘Mars’
‘Canadice’

26. Black rot- #1 problem in backyard grapes
Must spray with an effective fungicide (Immunox) when shoots begin to elongate in spring.
Starts on foliage and moves to developing fruit. Can ruin crop. Prune out foliage around grape clusters to increase air circulation and leaf drying time to reduce black rot problems.

27. Blueberry
Plant a mixture of Northern Highbush and Southern Highbush cultivars
Use elemental sulfur and iron sulfate to reduce soil pH to 4.5
Mix large amounts of compost and sphagnum peat moss into planting area
Space plants 5 ft. apart
High organic matter soil is key- can compensate for a pH that is too high (nutrients are more available). Water and nutrients uptake happens to some degree at soil-mulch interface. Plants can take some shade.
Northern Highbush type is less forgiving of low OM-high pH soil. Southern highbush and rabbiteye adapted to more soil types and situations.
Legacy is a NH with Southern genes. Does well at CMREC/UM. Brightwell is rabitteye that has done well (highest yields by far at CMREC. O’Neal (SH) and Duke (NH) also recommended.
7 species native to MD; don’t dig up and move wild blueb. Whether in MD or ME.
Huckleberry has ten seeds and you can feel them in your mouth. Blueberry fruit is many-seeded.
Southern highbush (Vaccinium corymbosum X Southern types) – 6-7 ft. tall; Reveille, Ozark Blue, O’Neal, Legacy
Northern highbush (Vaccinium corymbosum)
Rabbiteye (Vaccinium ashei) – Premier, Brightwell; 6-12 ft. tall; 8-14 lb. fruit/plant
Select Northern highbush or Southern highbush varieties. Add lots of compost to the soil prior to planting. Consider adding iron sulfate and elemental sulfur to lower soil pH to the required range. Water blueberry roots regularly for the first three years after planting. They have shallow, fibrous roots that can easily dry out.
Family: Ericacaeae
Botanical name: Vaccinium corymbosum
Origins: native plants; 26 species include lingonberries, cranberries, bilberries (huckleberries have 10 seeds and are in different genus).
V. corymbosum- highbush blueberry. Most widely cultivated; best adapted to mid-Atlantic.
V. ashei- rabbiteye blueberry for S.E. USA. Not hardy here.
V. angustifolium- low bush; hard to establish and maintain in MD.
Southern highbush are rabbiteye type X highbush type (e.g.‘Patriot’)
V. craslifolium- creeping ornamental type (also fruits) for Southern coastal plain region (‘Bloodstone’)
Recommended types:
Highbush type grows best overall in Maryland. Southern highbush will break dormancy early; less winter hardy but more heat and drought tolerant than highbush type.
Hardiness:
Highbush- buds hardy down to -15ºF to -30ºF
Botany & habit
Very shallow fibrous root system. Must never dry out.
No root hairs; endomycorrhizae very important for extending root system through soil profile.
perennial crown; fruits on wood 2-8 years old. Best fruiting wood is 5 years old.
new shoots come from crown buds in spring. Shoots grow in successive flushes. Apex dies and laterals break below.
flower buds differentiate from vegetative buds at the end of summer at the ends of young shoots and older canes; 5-10 flowers per bud. Old wood is un-productive.
Epigynous fruit- fusion of receptacle and multi-seeded ovary. Bees required for pollination. Blooms turn a wine color if not pollinated. Pollinated flowers drop after 5-6 days. ‘Coville’, ‘Berkley’, ‘Jersey’ and ‘Earliblue’, not especially attractive to bees.
Site and soil:
High organic matter soils feed the endomycorrhizae. Amend a 16” wide and 16” deep hole with peat moss, rooted manure, rotted sawdust.
Bring pH down to 4.8 with iron sulfate and sulfur. May need to add ½ lb. sulfur per 1,000 sq. ft. each year to maintain low pH. Mulch with wood chips, rotted sawdust, or pine needles (wet the soil before applying mulch).
Plants dry out quickly when temps. exceed 90ºF. Must receive regular water; root system can also drown. Very waxy leaves, slow transpiration rate. Stomata close during drought and growth stops.
Plants need ammonium form of nitrogen: (ammonium sulfate)
Spacing: 4-5 ft. in row.
Harvesting: Strip off flowers the first 1-2 years after planting. Premature cropping weakens plants. Fruits will ripen over a 5-7 day period after fully colored. Ready to pick when red ring disappears from stem end of fruit.
Notes: difficult to transplant; very long-lived plants if properly cared for. Iron chlorosis and conversion of ammonium to nitrate are problems when pH exceeds Never prune during budswell or bloom. Fall pruning causes late spring blooming, protecting blooms from late frosts. Will not recover from wilting condition. Reddish leaf color in spring due to cold weather is normal. Water deeply before cold weather sets in.

28. Fertilize with ammonium sulfate (21-0-0) at flowering and 2 weeks later.
Blueberry plants produce flushes of growth periodically during the growing season.
New shoots emerge from crown beginning at bud break but more so at flowering.
Drip irrigation or soaker hoses are highly recommended. Or water at base of plants with a hose whenever rainfall is lacking.
Blueberry does not have root hairs making it more drought vulnerable. It does best when root system is consistently moist.

29. Sensitive to environmental stress
Left:
Bleaching of leaf tissue between leaf veins is called chlorosis. Iron chlorosis is a symptom of an iron deficiency caused usually by soil pH that is too high causing iron to be less available for plant uptake.
Right: Off-color of leaves (red and purple coloration, yellowing) is often a symptom of one or more stressors- low temperature, temperature fluctuation, drought. Leaves naturally turn maroon, purple, or red in the fall.
Sensitive to environmental stress

30. Potted blueberry plants showing leaf scorch due to small container size, lack of water, and “hot site”
Grow bags require regular watering and winter protection

31. Underused small fruits
Elderberry- Sambucus
Ribes spp.-
Currant- red, black and white
Gooseberry- American, European and crosses
Jostaberry
Red currant can take some shade.
Jostaberry is big and togh; eaasy to pick musky fruits.

32. Black chokeberry- Aronia melanocarpa
Red chokeberry- Aronia (Photinia) pyrifolia
Not for eating off plant. Good in juices, jams, jellies.

33. Beach plum- Prunus maritima
Native to U.S. Atlantic Coast
Named cultivars produce larger fruit

34. Wineberry- very invasive!
Rubus phoenicolasius- China native that displaces native plants
Spreads by seed, suckers and tip rooting
Delicious fruit- but Do Not dig up and transplant into your landscape

35. Resources Grow It! Eat It! http://www.extension.umd.edu/growit
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Created by Jon Traunfeld, Extension Specialist, UME; 11/16