January is a great time to look ahead to the 2025 gardening season. While browsing through gardening catalogs and websites, various small fruit crops may catch the eye of gardeners. Most are easy to grow but each does have specific characteristics that require attention to detail for successful harvests.

As the name implies, small fruit crops produce small sized fruit on relatively small perennial plants. Strawberries, raspberries, grapes, and blueberries are the most popular crops for Wisconsin gardens. Just like vegetable crops, small fruits need sunlight and soils with good drainage. Choose cultivars carefully for winter hardiness for your exact location in Wisconsin, with most gardeners either in Zone 4 or 5.    

Strawberries plants grow vigorously, producing runners (stolons) that spread and develop daughter plants. Growth is managed various ways depending on the type of strawberry being grown. June (or spring) bearers produce one large crop in late June or early July. Ever-bearers produce smaller early summer crops but fruit again later in summer. Day-neutral strawberries, ideal for containers, fruit continuously all summer but are not hardy and must be replanted each season.

Raspberries come in red, purple, black, and yellow varieties and fruit on somewhat flimsy stems called canes. Some type of support is suggested to keep plantings neater and easier to manage. Fruit appears on canes the second year, the cane dies and should be pruned out. Everbearers, such as some red raspberry cultivars, are an exception as canes fruit the first fall and following summer. Purples and blacks need more pruning and are more disease susceptible. Viruses are a major concern with raspberries and wild brambles are often a source. Hardiness also varies, especially with purple and black raspberries, so choose cultivars very carefully to fit your location.

Grapes need a sturdy structure for support, such as a trellis. Grapes grow on vigorous long-lived perennial vines that need considerable pruning each season to stay the most productive.  Various training systems are used when growing grapes. American type grapes are considered hardy throughout Wisconsin. French hybrid types are less hardy and limited to protected sites in southern Wisconsin.

Blueberries prefer very acidic soils, so major amendments to lower the soil pH is most likely going to be needed. Half-high bush cultivars are hardy for Wisconsin. Plants also are shallow rooted and need irrigation in most years.  Blueberries grow in shrubs that do not need support. Growing blueberries in containers is an option to consider.

This is just a brief overview of the potential options for the backyard garden. Refer to our website for much more on all these fruit crops; hort.extension.wisc.edu/smallfruits.