How to Trellis Your Berry Bushes

I have decided to try growing berry bushes this year in addition to my usual vegetable and herb gardens. After doing A LOT of research I decided to try and get everything from Burpee. I did research on several different plant companies and Burpee always had the best reviews. I have had problems with bad quality plants in the past and I wanted to do things right this year. I loved that Burpee stands by the quality of quality and they DO NOT use GMO plants or seeds. There was so much information on their website and I especially loved their Gardening Tips & Advice section to help guide me through my selection process. I have to admit I was so confident in the quality and excited to get started I got a little carried away at the garden store this year. I decided to go completely out of my comfort zone and buy fruit plants. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do but never thought I would have the space for them with everything else I wanted to grow. This year we found some free space in the backyard for the new fruit garden.

I instantly took to Pinterest to read up on how to build the best structure on a tight budget. I came up with a few wonderful ideas that weren’t as budget friendly as I would have like so I decided to brainstorm with my “Garden Engineer” (aka Dad). After some additional research we had a plan and were ready to get started.

What you need:

Fruit Plants (I used 1 Blackberry, 1 Black Raspberry and 1 Raspberry)
4 Posts (1 for each end and 1 between each plant, if you do more plants you need more posts)
Fence Post Driver (a mallet can work if you don’t have one)
Plant Food/Fertilizer (I use Osmocote Vegetable & Bedding Plant Food, I swear by this stuff it’s the best!)
Good Soil (I used Miracle Grow Vegetable & Garden Soil, this stuff is awesome)
Wire Garden Line (twine could work but reinforced wire string is more durable)
Wire Cutters
Shovel
Wheelbarrow

Directions:

Walk out your area, placing plants 1 shovel length apart.
Dig a hole for each plant (about a foot deep). Make sure to save the soil you dig up. Toss it into your wheelbarrow for later use.
Pound a post in place halfway between each hole and about 2 feet past each end.
Mix garden soil with the dirt from the holes (about 50/50) in wheelbarrow.
Dump 1 cap-full of plant food into each hole.
Place Plant in each hole and fill with soil mixture, pat down and water.
String wire garden line about 1 foot above each plant between each post.
String a second line a foot above first string.
Enjoy some well supported plants!

I did attempt to make a YouTube tutorial on this process (hopefully up in the next few days, Ill make sure to link it on here), it was my first attempt at making a YouTube video so please excuse my Blair Witch Style Shooting Skills. Note to self, don’t play fetch with the puppy while working the camera.