I’m planning out a raised bed and wondering what to put in it. I know I want raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and tomatoes, but still have some room to spare. I’m looking mostly for perennials and live in zone 7b.
@nickp … if you orient your raised bed so that (length wise) it runs east - west…
Strawberries would be best planted on the south (sunny side)… so the taller stuff does not shade them out. They would be happy growing along that south edge.
I have a really long (90 ft) borderless raised bed that runs east - west… and the first spring i planted strawberries along the north and south edges of the bed… raspberries blackberries goumi bushes and several fruit trees were planted in the middle of the bed.
The strawberries along the north side did not do well… got shaded too much… on the south side they floueished and produced well that fall (everbeaeing type).
Early that next spring while still dormant i moved them all to the south side…
A caution on red raspberries… i have heritage and they spread like crazy… root shoots … they would take over a raised bed in a year or two unless you agressively control them (take out or cut off all the root shoots). I think most red varieties are pretty agressive spreaders.
I have black and gold rasberries and i would say the gold ones are the least agressive spreaders.
Black or Gold would be easier to keep under control than Reds.
Plant your taller stuff on the North side… shorter stuff on the South side… Mid size stuff in the middle.
Good Luck.
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