On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 23:16:24 +0000, Claire Petersky wrote:
I have some salmonberry bushes. It started with a single volunteer, and
now I have several. They're in a good spot, really, right at the edge of
the garden, where there's a drop-off. I have read that salmonberry is
useful for stablizing slopes, and it is a slope that needs stablizing. So,
as a native plant, I've let them be.
Since they've spread without too much difficulty, I have some concern
about them being invasive. A few clumps growing along the fence and under
the vine maple and fir is fine, but I'm afraid I let them go entirely,
they'd turn into a thicket.
Salmonberries are a member of the rubus family. Since this is the time of
year I'd be prunining roses, I figured it was a good time to prune the
salmonberries too. I hacked them down to about a meter in height. Do you
think this would be effective in keeping them in check? Or is it just
going to encourage them to grow more?
I manage a large patch of salmonberry on a client's property on Lummi
Island, Wa. Salmonberry will bind the soil rather well, but I would
suggest salal (Gaultheria Shallon) if your looking for the best bank
holder.
We tend to treat salmonberry in one of two ways. You can hack them down
to the ground every year or can treat them more like a raspberry and thin
out the older canes every year or so. I like the thinning route myself,
but with a large patch it can be a bit time consuming. You will need to
watch for stem borers and rust as these two issues are what I see the
most. Other wise they should produce well for you and give you little
trouble.
They will, over time, try to take over any sunny area that you may have.
They can send out very long shoots, looking for virgin ground to populate.
You can dig a ditch near the patch that is a foot deep and a foot wide
and this should slow if not stop the re-population.
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