Blueberry or blackberry variety help

[ravenstormTEG]

Ok, I have a problem area of my yard and I prefer to plant only "useful" plants (and I don't count being attractive as useful). I would love to plant either a blueberry bush or a few canes of blackberries in that area, but I'm not getting much help as far as info goes about varieties that would do well in my problem spot.

The problems are:
-High pH soil (6-7ph)
-The area is on the north side of my house close to the building, so shade is an issue
-Soil type is a heavy clay, but with lots of organic matter mixed in
-I live in Azusa, CA (about 30 miles from Los Angeles) and I am in zone 8 (USDA) or 21 (Sunset). We only get a little over 300 hours of chill time a year and the typical daytime temp ranges from high 70's to high 90's.

Anyone have an idea of what varieties would work best for me?

I do have chickens and I am composting their manure and getting ready to add it to this area, will that add some acidity to my soil?

 

[setter4]

It might be better in the long run to look for something more suited to your area.
The berries you are talking about require a Ph of 4.5 - 5 ( I think, I'mtoo tired to go look. lol) You could amend your soil and add acid fertilizers etc. but in the end Mother Nature always wins. You will be fighting this battle forever as the surrounding soil leaches into the area.
How about maybe looking at a Nanking Bush Cherry instead. I think that's closer to your Ph level.

 

[kellygirrl]

You could always plant currants. I've grown them in pretty shady places and gotten fruit. Gooseberries should do okay too. Alkaline soil is fine. Blueberries and most fruits really want sun. If you want to try a bush cherry, tho I think sun is a factor, I've bought a Carmine bush cherry, supposed to be big and sweet for a bush cherry. Gurneys is the only place I found to carry it last year.

 

[setter4]

You could always plant currants. I've grown them in pretty shady places and gotten fruit. Gooseberries should do okay too. Alkaline soil is fine. Blueberries and most fruits really want sun. If you want to try a bush cherry, tho I think sun is a factor, I've bought a Carmine bush cherry, supposed to be big and sweet for a bush cherry. Gurneys is the only place I found to carry it last year.

I totally missed the shade part. You are correct that all the above mentioned berries are going to want a good bit of sun if not full sun.
Let us know when your cherry gets fruit Kellygirl. I'd really be interested.

 

[kellygirrl]

Let us know when your cherry gets fruit Kellygirl. I'd really be interested.

It looks like it winter killed. I ordered it for spring planting, but they sent it late fall, too late for roots to get established, I feared at the time. Same thing happened to someone else in my town, I'm curious if his survived. Gurneys will replace it tho, I'm sure, so it's just the wait...The Carmine bush cherry was developed by a university in Canada, and I'm very optimistic about it.

 

[Sylvie]

You could always plant currants. I've grown them in pretty shady places and gotten fruit. Gooseberries should do okay too.

If you have white pines that you value, think twice about currants and gooseberries which host white pine blister rust.

 

[kellygirrl]

.
If you have white pines that you value, think twice about currants and gooseberries which host white pine blister rust.

I read that some examples of resistant varieties of black currant are Consort, Crusader, Coronet, Ben Sarek, and Ben Nevis. They were bred for that reason, as I understand.

I believe Consort is the one I have on the north side of my house w/ wonderfully fragrant yellow flowers in spring, and pretty nice tasting fruit.

I also came across this site that suggests the disease relationship b/n the two is being reconsidered.
http://www.allbusiness.com/agriculture-forestry/agriculture-crop-production/5754758-1.html

I have no opinion, I was just happy someone said I could grow currants. I'd have to read up on gooseberries again.

 

[GardeNerd]

I am near by on the coast. I have sucessfully grown an extensive variety of blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries.

Raspberries are your best bet for the shade you mentioned. I like Anna, a yellow, and Baba, a red out of the dozens I tried. Mulch well and keep watered, too. Both those varieties don't need many chill hours and they are ever bearing varieties.

The black berries I have had good luck with are Triple Crown, Boysen and Chester. Be careful, they are highly invasive, even more so than the raspberries. Try to build a barrier of some kind. I grow some of mine in a strip alone the driveway that is great for keeping them well behaved.

For an easy Southern Highbush blueberry I would recommend Sunshine Blue. It is the most tolerant of our alkaline soils. For the other Southern Highbush varieties that grow here, you will have to add sulfur, peat moss, or something similar to lower the pH after double checking you have the typical soCal alkaline or neutral soil. Try Georgia Gem, O'Neal, or Misty. There are a couple of others, but I have not tried them. They all need regular water.

Good luck!

Fullerton Arboretuem will be having their annual Green Scene plant sale the weekend after Easter. There are often many varieties of blackberries available to purchase at the California Rare Fruit Growers booth. I know its a drive, but it is like Disneyland for gardeners there that weekend.

 

[kellygirrl]

...
They black berries I have had good luck with are Triple Crown, Boysen and Chester. Be carefully, they are highly invasive, even more so than the raspberries. ...

Have you noticed that Triple Crown is less invasive than other blackberries? I grow Doyles, which are supposed to be similar in growth habit to Triples, and have not noticed aggressive spread (certainly not like the raspberries). Just curious.

I'm surprised that you suggest blues, raspberries, and blackberries for shade, though. But I've noticed things often do things despite the common dictums, so it's always worth a try...

 

[GardeNerd]

The "Triple Crown" roots wherever the canes touch the ground like the other trailing varieties of blackberries, so it can spread easily that way. If you keep it on a trellis or wire support, it is not very invasive by way of underground roots.

I have tried to kill my upright blackberry "Apache" a couple of different times. It is a survivor. Everyone else in the family likes it but me. It is too seedy (bigger seeds than other varieties I have.)

My Boysen is my most invasive. Spreads fast and easily both above and below ground and isn't as greedy with the water.

The blueberries will have less fruit in full shade than in half day. Mine get half day from Spring to Fall. They are on the North side of my house, but right at the corner facing the West so they get half day sun until the late fall. They don't have many leaves in the winter when the shade is the deepest.

It is the raspberries and some blackberries that are fine in SoCal in the shade on the North side of buildings. Most folks don't think we can grow them because our climate is so dry. I think not having them in full sun, like folks on the East coast do, helps. But this is my personal experience and what my local gardening friends do, not what the books say. Most are not written with our climate in mind.

In Southern California, you would be hard pressed to find currants or gooseberries locally due to the high chilling requirements. There could be a few rare varieties around here, but I don't know of any.

Edited because I can't spell.