Companion Planting: Hops and Berries?

[Damonic]

My hop bed is in a prime location on the south side of the barn. I end up having to weed it all summer so was curious if I could plant strawberries throughout the beds as well. My hope is that the berries would act as a natural groundcover and choke out the weeds (or at least help) and I'd also have a berry harvest as well. I add compost every year and strawberries aren't really considered heavy feeders. I searched online and HBT specifically for berries w/ hops and came up empty so I assume there's not an INcompatibility. Thoughts?

 

[microbusbrewery]

My experience with strawberries is limited. Our old house came with a strawberry patch. It tended to attract a lot of pests that wanted to eat the fruit. If you experienced the same, you could probably spray to control bugs but based on my experience I'd be hesitant to plant something that attracts pests near my hops.

 

[CentralWABrewing]

I turned a weed invested area next to the house into a small hop garden. Pulled out all vegetation, raked it level, put down a layer of weed control fabric, and then a layer of bark on top. The hop hills are outlined with cedar and now the only weeds I have growing there are used to make beer
As you can see, we have strawberries growing in the background.

 

[Randar]

My hop bed is in a prime location on the south side of the barn. I end up having to weed it all summer so was curious if I could plant strawberries throughout the beds as well. My hope is that the berries would act as a natural groundcover and choke out the weeds (or at least help) and I'd also have a berry harvest as well. I add compost every year and strawberries aren't really considered heavy feeders. I searched online and HBT specifically for berries w/ hops and came up empty so I assume there's not an INcompatibility. Thoughts?

They aren't incompatible. Only thing to really watch out for from my experience is with slugs that will be attracted. Rodents/birds might be more attracted as well, but that hasn't been an issue for me, per se.

I have a strawberry pyramid less than 15 feet from my hops, so I would say go for it and let us know how it works out.

 

[Damonic]

Thanks for the input all. Added a bunch of fresh compost today and will be planting the strawberries this weekend. Hopefully slugs won't be too much of an issue since they'll have to climb/cross over the railroad ties surrounding the bed and they tend to dislike rough surfaces. The ties are also my "back 40 urinal" and marking them seems to help deter deer. Also acts as free fertilizer as well. As far as other bugs, I'm 100% organic so my arsenal consists of diatomaceous earth and neem oil. Had no pests near the hops last year so hopefully the addition of berries doesn't change that. Will post pics and update!

 

[DaaMom]

I had the same idea of planting strawberries with the hops to keeps the weeds down. I hope they are doing well for you. Let us know how it is going.

 

[GilbertFarm]

Any thoughts on planting hops between blueberries? I have a good blueberry patch already with irrigation lines. Was thinking that if the blues were 4 feet apart, I could plunk the hops in between them.

Thoughts?

 

[afr0byte]

Any thoughts on planting hops between blueberries? I have a good blueberry patch already with irrigation lines. Was thinking that if the blues were 4 feet apart, I could plunk the hops in between them.

Thoughts?

It would seem the soil pH might be too low?

 

[GilbertFarm]

It would seem the soil pH might be too low?

That is something I suppose that might be an issue, but haven't checked. The soil will be the soil..... sheep manure mixed with wood chips mulch over winter seems to make everything grow pretty well.

So far my rhizomes are growing pretty well in pots of the same mixture.

More concerned about competition and shading out the blues.

 

[damdaman]

Blueberries can tolerate a bit of shade but I'd be more worried about the massive hop roots stealing all the nutrients/soil moisture.