Spring is such a great time of year. To me, it's miraculous how things revive after the long, dormant winter. The first flowers sprout, hostas return, asparagus comes up, and my favorite - rhubarb - comes back to life!
As I find out more about "edible landscaping," I realize that I have been thinking about this long before I was aware it was a new method of landscape design I've thought a lot in recent year about making my garden and yard spaces more about plants that produce food, than for mere aesthetically pleasing plants. And I've always coveted my neighbors rhubarb for both it's beauty and tastiness! (Please forgive me!)
I'm starting my fourth growing season in my current location and I am slowly learning how things grow in my yard. With this knowledge, I am able to plan and move things around as I attempt to make it all customized to my and my family's wants and needs.
When I came home with my girls after 5:00 yesterday afternoon, I went inside to start dinner and my girls went out to play. Before long, they came back inside and excitedly told me that some plants were missing. I did not know what they were talking about, so they took me outside to show me. To my joy, a friend had apparently come during the day and removed three of my red-twig dogwood bushes for her daughter. (Or there really was a bush thief!) This has freed up space for either rhubarb or raspberries in these high-sun locations.
Luckily, I have both fairly readily available as transplants from friends or to move from other spaces in my garden. A friend of mine has given me harvested rhubarb for the past three or four seasons. I always appreciate that! And now I have space that is open and ready for a transplant.
But I also have one or two pots of yellow raspberries that need to be put into the ground. They have wintered over twice in the pots. I am unsure of if it is two pots, because they have evidently made runners and are creating their own patch, despite being in a fairly shady area. According to a publication by the University of Minnesota Extension (http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG1108.html), red and yellow raspberries are the only ones that spread and create a patch. Black and most purple raspberries, by nature of the way they grow, do not spread as readily.. Raspberries should be planted in a full-sun, well-drained area that has good air circulation. This makes my newly-available spot seem ideal. This spot is at the top of a retention wall in full sun. It will have air circulation on all sides, as well as be in sun for most of the day.
So, what about rhubarb in this spot? I will have other spaces open, at least eventually. But I could plant rhubarb here and then plant the raspberries closer to others that I have. But from what I have read, it might be better to separate the patches of raspberries, to promote diversity and keep diseased plants, if it develops, from taking out all my raspberries.
But to be ready for my eventual rhubarb planting, I want to understand the best place for it. Where ever it is planted, it will be pretty! But I want to give it the best possible chance to thrive. I had a couple of questions this spring about rhubarb bolting already. Usually, the bloom stalks develop a little later in the season. Also, I have had a question on fertilization of rhubarb. All of this has lead me to ask a few more-knowledgeable people about rhubarb, as well as consult the Extension's flyer on rhubarb. This flyer can be found at http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1260.html. (Interestingly, this flyer addresses growing sorrel, as well. This is yet another plant I can add to my edible landscaping plan!)
In this flyer, it states that rhubarb should be grown in full sun in a well-drained location. So, it has similar needs as raspberries. Additionally, rhubarb can benefit from incorporating commercial fertilizer or compost into the soil before planting. Additional fertilization should happen annually in the spring.
Now, I just need to figure out how much rhubarb to plant!
