My land is loaded with wild raspberries and blackberries. The plants are small and scrubby but loaded with berrys every year. Can I "tame" them? I would like to help them along, maybe contain some and use them. That's if I get to them before my dog does, LOL, she loves 'em too.

-- Susan in Northern Michigan (cobwoman@yahoo.com), February 05, 2002

Answers

We have wild dewberries in various places on our place. All we do is fling some fertilizer on them in the very early spring. Does wonders.

You can trim them back some, if you like, but it's not necessary.

-- Rose with wild dewberries (open_rose@hotmail.com), February 05, 2002.

We have wild blackberries and blueberries. We give them a bit of water if it's a dry summer and sprinkle some fertilizer at the base. That's it. Whacking them back is necessary once in a while but other than that we leave them alone for wild life habitat. Have fun, Yum! LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), February 05, 2002.

I drive the mower around the patch before things go haywire for the year, and cut a few walkways in to ease picking. I fling rabbit manure at them twice a year. Ive heard mulching with saw dust is a great way to promote growth and weed out unwanted plants. Coffee grounds should also do wonders for the patch (think ROSES, as thats the family black, rasp and many other berries belong to, thus stuff that helps roses will also help rose family-berries and coffee ground really hlp roses out).

-- Kevin in NC (Vantravlrs@aol.com), February 06, 2002.

I am from Washington. I had to laugh. Back there we try to gigure out how to keep them under control or gone altogether. NEver how to HELP them! HEHEHEHE. But I miss em here in ND!

-- Novina in ND (homespun@stellarnet.com), February 11, 2002.