Off the Urban Grid

5 Berries You Can Grow in Containers

May 20, 2009 – 1:05 am by Lindsay

So, you want to grow some of your own food–maybe some tasty berries–but you don’t have a big plot of land to devote to it. No worries, my friend. Quite a few berry varities can be grown in pots.

Let’s take a look at 5 tasty specimens you can grow on your patio, balcony, driveway, or any sunny place you’ve got room for a large pot.

1. Strawberries

Okay, this one is a gimmie. Everybody knows you can grow strawberries in containers, and you’ve doubtlessly seen all those funky looking strawberry pots, but since it’s right up there with apples as my favorite fruit, I have to mention them here.

Those strawberry pots with the holes in the sides (from which individual plants grow) can give you an amazing amount of fruit in a small space. They can even be hung if you don’t have a lot of ground area. And if you don’t want to buy anything fancy, you can terrace a few pots you’ve already got to create your own strawberry container.

2. Blueberries

Blueberries are big business out here in the Pacific Northwest (I’ve heard its one of the few berries that can be grown organically and still be quite profitable), but you don’t need a 20-acre blueberry farm to get a good crop.

Many species don’t grow excessively large ( < 5 feet tall ), and can live their lives in large pots. You can start out with as small as a 2 gallon pot, and then as the bushes grow larger, you might see if you can get a good deal on some of those half wine/whiskey barrel planters.

Blueberry bushes are an awesome investment too since they can produce for up to 60 years. They are finicky though, preferring acidic soils, so fix them up with a nice potting mix that offers lots of organic matter and something like peat moss to bring the pH down.

3. Huckleberries

These are another one that does well in my Pacific Northwest area, but they can be grown elsewhere as well (I just get excited when I find things that actually thrive in our short maritime summers). Unlike most edibles, huckleberries can tolerate shade (in fact, varieties such as the evergreen huckleberry grow more than twice as large in the shade!).

Without pruning, the evergreen huckleberry will grow to 6-8 feet in the shade. If that’s too much for your balcony, just trim it down to a manageable size (or keep it in a sunny spot). Huckleberries are a yummy fruit, and if you’ve never tried a huckleberry Riesling, you’re in for a great light summer wine.

4. Freestanding Blackberry

If you think of blackberries as only coming in sprawling bramble patches that threaten to take over entire fields, then check out some of the erect or “freestanding” varieties.

Not only are these blackberries non-invasive (they’re not going to grow 20 feet a year and take over your entire yard), but their canes are mostly self supporting, meaning they won’t sprawl everywhere and can do well in a large container planting.

5. Lingonberries

And now for something nice and small. I had lingonberries for the first time last year in Ballard (a part of Seattle with a Norse heritage) via a lingonberry strudel and it was delicious. Now I’m ordering some of my own lingonberry plantings to grow.

Popular in Scandinavian cuisine, varieties such as the Red Pearl Lingonberry are perfect for container gardens since they only grow to about 18″ high. They do spread nicely too (though not in a maniacal invasive way) and can also be planted as a ground cover in your garden beds or anywhere you’d like something more interesting than grass growing. Of course, if you’re going to go large-scale, you’ll want to pick up a Swedish lingonberry rake to make harvesting easier!

There you go: five berries for your container gardens. There’s no reason you should have to pay $5+ for a tiny pint of blueberries at the store again!

Are there any other container-worthy berries that should be mentioned here?

Tags: berries, blackberries, blueberries, container gardens, huckleberries, lingonberries, strawberries