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Raspberries bring a lot of joy to their owners, but they also bring a lot of trouble.
This delicious and extremely healthy berry is loved by everyone, so caring gardeners gladly allocate a place for it in their summer cottages.
But it is also a very unruly shrub that actively "walks" throughout the area, clogging up the lawn, garden, vegetable garden, and flower beds.
Details
If you have a small summer cottage and a great desire to plant as many different plants as possible, the growth of raspberries throughout the garden is clearly not your priority. In this case, it is important to limit the spread of this shrub throughout the entire garden.
Traditional way to limit raspberry growth
In raspberries, the root system develops on two levels. Part of the rhizome reaches deep, and part spreads horizontally, actively forming shoots.
The classic method of limiting shoot growth is to dig slate, roofing felt, iron sheets, or other obstacles into the ground around the perimeter of the area designated for the shrub.
But, if you believe the reviews of gardeners, this method helps little. It certainly restrains growth, but stubborn raspberries find a way to get around the barrier.
Summer residents themselves are largely to blame. They bury the slate shallowly, leave gaps between the sheets, and sometimes even use curb tape. To create a real obstacle for the rhizome, it is necessary to bury the slate a meter into the ground and carefully connect the places where the sheets meet so that the plant does not find a loophole.
Two ways to limit raspberry growth
Raspberry “travels” around the site in search of water and food. This plant extracts a huge amount of nutrients from the soil. When they run out, it moves to a new place with the help of creeping roots and begins to grow where there is food. When there are no nutrients left in the new place, the raspberry bush moves to another place. And so on to infinity. This can be observed in the forest, when over several decades the raspberry bush gradually “walks” away from the place of its original growth.
If you provide raspberries with nutrition and water in the space allotted to them, the plant will not need to “walk” in search of food.
To plant raspberries, you need to dig a trench about a meter deep. Fill it with thick branches and tree trunks from the bottom, lay thinner branches on top, and on them small organic waste (straw, hay, apples, grass, cleanings). Cover with soil and plant raspberries on top. The wood will rot for a long time, retaining moisture and nourishing the bushes. Over time, of course, the raspberries will begin to grow, but for the first 5-7 years it will not need it. Regular feeding and watering will also help.
The second method is so simple that many people do not believe in its effectiveness. But it is the most effective of all. You need to plant sorrel around the perimeter of the raspberry patch. It is better in two rows. Surprisingly, raspberries, for which even slate is not an obstacle, cannot get over the barrier of ordinary sorrel. A nice bonus is that you always have greens on hand for soups and preparations for the winter.
If you combine all three methods – an organic trench, slate, and a row of sorrel outside the slate fence, raspberries will stop wandering around the site as they please.
