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There is a patch of lawn between the driveways of my neighbour and I of dimension ~5 ft x 20 ft (ca. 1.5×6 m). I would like to plant edible fruit producing plants in my half of this strip of dirt and not have it creep over into my neighbour’s lawn. What plants would be suitable for this?

I was thinking of a bunch of mulberry bushes, but these would probably be too big. Other thoughts were strawberries and grapes. It would be nice to mix in flowers and other visually appealing plants as this garden will be at the front of the house.

I would also like these plants to be perennial. I live in hardiness zone 6a-5b.

dakab
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Om Patange
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3 Answers3

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If you want all of the plants to be the same type, you would probably want a row of shrubs that grow between 3 and 6 feet tall and don't spread much. Blueberries would do well in your location, if you have an acid soil high in humus. Thornless blackberries would produce lots of fruit, but take a lot of care in pruning and supporting. Grapes need more attention than blackberries, but are more versatile in what things they will grow on, and what size they will get.

If I were in your situation, I would plant four blueberry bushes spaced evenly over the length of the plot, and plant Seascape strawberry plants around them as a groundcover. Although strawberries aren't normally planted around blueberries, they easily adapt to it and it looks attractive. This would also work with the planting of flowers through the garden, if the strawberries are spaced far enough apart.

J. Musser
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Highbush blueberries:

  • They're a reasonable size
  • Make an attractive hedge
  • Attractive fall foliage
  • Blueberries are delicious!
bstpierre
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  • Be aware that blueberries require acidic soils. They may not be possible in Om Patange's soils. A soil Ph test should be done before planting blueberries. (The only people I know in my area of alkaline soils that have had any success with blueberries constructed the bed by digging a deep trench and filling it peat moss then treating with sulfur annually) – Rodney Schuler Dec 05 '11 at 01:16
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I'd think blueberries, too - except for the driveway location. You neighbor may not thank you for all the blue bird-poop. If you are willing to put netting over them, if you need to, then I agree that they're the best fit otherwise.

You might consider golden raspberries. The canes are nowhere near as nice to look at as blueberry bushes, but the berries seem to be invisible to birds. And they're delicious!

I wouldn't call raspberries invasive, but you will eventually need to prune them to keep them on your side. And of course, they have thorns. This can be good or bad, depending on the situation.

Ed Staub
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  • Maybe this is some local usage that I'm not aware of, but what do you mean by "blue bird-poop" if you plant blueberries? – Lorem Ipsum Dec 05 '11 at 22:50
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    @yoda - [Birds eat blueberries](http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/berry/production/pdfs/bbbirds.pdf)... hopefully the rest can be inferred! ;-) – Ed Staub Dec 06 '11 at 01:06
  • You get the same with blackberries, and beware leaving that poop on your car paintwork too long. Gooseberries can be green, red or golden in colour. The lighter coloured ones seem to be left alone by birds a bit more, all slightly different in flavour and can be pruned easily. If you wanted a fence type they could be cordon planted on frames and then under planted by strawberries –  Mar 27 '16 at 16:17