The enjoyment of raspberries is often spoiled by maggots or even growing them is difficult because raspberries cannot tolerate drought. With the right underplanting you can prevent this and even benefit from it visually.
Which plants are suitable for underplanting raspberries?
You can plant raspberries with ground cover plants, perennials, vegetables, herbs, early bloomers and ferns, which areweak feedersand requiremoist soilandpartially shaded location. The following are ideal:
- Scented violet or periwinkle
- Marigold or yarrow
- Garlic or French beans
- Wild garlic or lemon balm
- Lily of the valley or snowdrop
- worm fern or spotted fern
Planting raspberries with ground cover plants
Since raspberries are shallow-rooted, they should be planted with ground cover plants that develop theirroots close to the soil surface. It is advisable to implement the underplanting when planting the raspberries so that the roots and runners of the raspberry plants are not damaged later. Low plants such as: are suitable as ground cover
- fragrant violets
- Gundermann
- Evergreen
- Fat Man
Planting raspberries with perennials
You can also plant your raspberries with perennials that like semi-shady conditions and like to stand on a slightly moist substrate. How about planting specific perennials that have a positive effect on the raspberries and also look beautiful. For example, yarrow supports thefertility of raspberries, while the brightly blooming marigoldskeep pests away The following perennials are perfect for underplanting raspberries:
- Yarrow
- Marigolds
- Forget-me-not
- tansy
- Tagetes
Planting raspberries with vegetables
Do you want to plant your raspberries in the vegetable patch? Then you can plant them there with vegetables that are beneficial to them and also minimize the risk of disease and pest infestation. However, the vegetables should haveshallow rootsand remain relativelysmall so as not to disturb the raspberry canes. The following are suitable:
- garlic
- Onions
- Bush beans
- Lamb lettuce
Planting raspberries with herbs
While Mediterranean herbs are not suitable for planting under raspberries, herbs native to this country and those that originally grow in forests are ideal. They have similar site requirements to raspberries andeffectively cover their root zone so moisture escapes from the soil more slowly. These herbs go well with raspberries:
- Wild garlic
- Melissa
- Mint
- Woodruff
Planting raspberries with early bloomers
At the same time as planting the raspberries, you can add early bloomers to the soil. TheLily of the Valleyare particularly worth mentioning here. Convallaria majalisprotectsummer raspberries from infestation by theraspberry beetleand thus also frommaggots in the fruits. The raspberry canes, in turn, provide shade for the lilies of the valley in summer. Here is a selection of suitable early bloomers for underplanting raspberries:
- Lily of the valley
- Märzenbecher
- Winterlings
- Crocuses
- Snowdrops
Planting raspberries with ferns
Last but not least, ferns are also ideal partners for raspberries. The moist soil and partial shade at the base of the raspberries suits most ferns. These in turn fit Rubus idaeus because they haveflat rootsand represent along-term underplanting. These ferns are particularly recommended:
- Shield fern
- Spotted Fern
- Rib Fern
- maidenhair fern
- worm fern
Tip
Avoid heavy feeders for underplanting
Heavy eaters should not eat raspberries. They would rob the berry of its nutrients and thus significantly slow down its growth. It is therefore better to choose weak and medium feeders for the underplanting and provide the raspberries regularly with a berry fertilizer (€10.00 on Amazon), which does not harm the underplanting.
