Attempting Haskaps on north west facing foundation planting zone 7b

A vote for Strawberry Bush just because they are cool looking, but not very tasty fruits.

1 Like

Yeah, that should work fine in 7b, very borderline in zone 6. Strawberry bush. Attractive evergreen shrub, also nice blooms and a special aroma. Tea would also work come to think of it…camellia sinensis.

I decided on Haskaps/honeyberries for this space. I ordered 4, particularly the 3 from the Boreal series and a Maxine. I’ll likely put the Maxine furthest west as it should have the best heat tolerance and can shade the rest. If anyone has planting tips please let me know. I was planning of leaving the carboard in place and adding some compost and mulch to the area after planting, but welcome to all suggestions. do I need to protect them from deer or just birds when they are fruiting?

@TheDerek probably has a good answer to your question about deer as well as the birds.

A week or 2 back I pulled the cardboard back and ran my action hoe through any remaining weeds, then gave it a light raking. I tried to evenly space 4 spots for my 4 haskaps. I’m planning to grow them from left to right Blizzard, Beast, Beauty, and Maxine. Maxine will be in a location primed to get the most sun as its 100% Japanese lineage should be better suited for in my warmer climate. I pre-dug holes and mixed my clay soul with some leaf compost (Maryland made leafgro) and refilled the holes. I then sprinkled some extra compost on top just after replacing my flags making my pre-dug planting locations. should be getting them from honeyberry usa is the next week or so. after planting I’ll fill in the gapswith the cardboard I pulled and cover in a thick layer of wood chips.

picture of the prepped bed. its a foundation planting so I am concerned about watering as the overhang from my roof prevents the water from touching the entire bed. might need supplemental water for year 1. deer are also a concern but given the location I doubt they will cause problems in year one. might add a fence in year 2 if needed.

2 Likes

I received all my Honeyberry plants on Friday from honeyberry USA. They were all very well packaged, with the boreal series all wrapped together, with roots balls wrapped in wet newspaper and the entire plants wrapped in plastic wrap. the Maxine was in a commercial container with a lot more growth, wrapped in plastic wrap. I placed the cardboard back down, cut in holes and planted through them. I then topped with wood chip mulch. I plan to water as needed and just see what happens. hoping they survive year 1!

3 Likes

I am in zone 7a Tennessee… and tried jostaberry currents and honeyberry in full sun locations… had to re plant the josta and currants in a morning sun location… they did not like my TN full sun at all.

They are doing fine in morning sun location.

I left the honeyberry in full sun… but they really do not like it either… in July they drop leaves and pretty much look dead… but to my surprise leaf out again in spring. I have some tiny fruit on now.

Going to give them some shade late June thru mid Sept this year to see if that will help.

TNHunter

They’ll be fine…but a part shade location especially in the afternoons might be good.
I don’t have a pollinator until my little ones get bigger.

At this point I would have expected my haskaps to be leafing out already but they still are not. all of the gooseberries I planted from the same order have leafed out (although the leaves are still small). honeyberry usa recommended I cut the tips of the stems to look for green growth inside to make sure they aren’t dead, but I haven’t tried that yet. My Maxine arrived leafed out and still looks good. in fact I think the leaves are a bit darker now compared to when it was first planted. any thoughts? help!

PXL_20210512_000101853

hmm… i have a boreal beauty and beast i just got from them and the beauty still hasnt leafed out for me either but beast has. its been 2 weeks. in your warmer clime yours definetly should be growing. how long they been in ground? id do a scratch test to see if theres green under the bark. im going to check mine todat as well.

The U of S honeyberries have not leafed out for me either. I wonder if they keep them in the fridge until they are ordered.

i wonder that as well. last year i had a serviceberry that never leafed out either. seems like maybe they need to change their storage practices. ill be asking for a replacement again for this one if thats the case.

Seems to me, despite having 50 years ahead of them, the younger folk are shorter on patience than older folk.

But a scratch on the bark or snipping the tip might yield a prompt answer to the issue.
If it’s still moist and green, then just hold your horses.

I’ve got an apple I grafted in March that just came to life day before yesterday…all the other scions from this person had taken and leafed out long ago…some even more than 6 inches growth. Mystery on the length of time that one took.

2 Likes

Almost a month now in the ground in zone 7b. planted on April 17th

1 Like

My U of S varieties now have tiny leafs. They have been planted in the sun for 10 days now. I am in zone 5. Kind of surprising how long it took them to come out of dormancy. There is no way Minnesota is that far behind southern Wisconsin. They must be doing something to keep them dormant for longer to improve survival?

1 Like

The Boreal series never leafed out so honeyberry usa sent me replacements. they had beauty and blizzard in stock but no beast so they sent me honey bee. I pulled the old boreal’s out that had been in the ground since mid April and sure enough they were dead as a doornail, no root growth or anything. not sure what went wrong there. the beauty and blizzard I received had leafed out already prior to shipping in a few places but the green growth that was there had serious chlorosis. after getting them in the ground for just 24 hours the green growth perked up and turned and darker shade of green. the honey bee I received had leafed out prior to shipping as well and the growth on that plant was darker but withered and limp. after planting I still have not seen any improvement on the honey bee. assuming the blizzard and beauty survive I have a feeling I’ll be ordering a beast next year to replace the honey bee. it just doesn’t seem to be thriving yet. only had them in the ground since Tuesday morning though so so only time will tell. below from top to bottom are the beauty, honey bee, and blizzard. not pictured, but the Maxine is still going strong with dark green leaves.

1 Like

my beauty finally leafed out about 2 weeks ago. the jb 30 serviceberry that was sent to me last summer that i thought was dead finally sent out a spout for me last week. out of 18 tree/ bushes i still have 100% take on everything ive got from them. the northline serviceberry they sent me to replace the jb30 put out about 30 flowers.

2 Likes

One year update:

My Maxine has had excellent growth this spring and doubled, maybe tripled in size. I even had a good number of flowers on the old wood. my beauty came back as well but growth isn’t great. it did somehow have 1 flower this spring. I figure the U of S hybrids aren’t as well adapted to my zone 7b climate here in Maryland so I got another 100% Japanese Solo cultivar. it is Tiny. in place of the other honeyberries I planted White Fruiting Christina Native Strawberries from edible landscaping.

Maxine

Beauty

whole bed (north facing foundation planting)

3 Likes

My Christina white strawberries took over the bed with runners in 2022 and have formed a nice mat this spring 2023. the Maxine is still growing very strong this spring. the solo I planted in spring of 2022 came back and has doubled in size, but is still quite small and no flowers. my boreal beauty had a few flowers and I had a ton of flowers on my Maxine but it doesn’t look like they cross pollinated and I won’t get any fruit again this year.

2 Likes