The Most Popular Berries to Grow at Home

Berry plants are a great addition to any home garden. They can offer huge yields of fruit that can sometimes be expensive when bought at the store. Plus, berries are not just for eating snacks. They are versatile fruits that can make delicious jellies, jams, sauces, leather, cheese, pies, and even booze.

Berries are also known for their antioxidant properties and other health benefits, and this is why have your own berry plants at home.

These are the most popular berries  to grow at home:

1. Strawberries

Strawberry plant. Wild stawberry bushes. Strawberries in growth at garden. Ripe berries and foliage strawberry
Strawberry plant. Wild stawberry bushes. Strawberries in growth at garden. Ripe berries and foliage strawberry

Strawberries are very common and versatile. While they don’t technically grow in a bush, they are incredibly easy to grow. Even if you don’t have a large garden or a patch of soil where you live, you can grow them in containers  and even indoors.  They spread by producing tendrils with baby strawberries on plants on them called runners. Strawberries come in early summer, mid-season, and late-bearing varieties, which means you can extend your harvest by planting varieties that will ripen at different times.

Strawberries can also serve as a great, productive ground covering the plant in the garden. These perennial plants can continue to produce for several years, especially if you take the time to divide the runners and replant them to keep the crop going.

2. Blueberries

Blueberries ripening on the bush. Shrub of blueberries. Growing berries in the garden. Close-up of blueberry bush, Vaccinium corymbosum.
Blueberries ripening on the bush. Shrub of blueberries. Growing berries in the garden. Close-up of blueberry bush, Vaccinium corymbosum.

Blueberries grow easily in most areas of the United States, making them one of the quintessential American soft fruits. They grow in acidic, moist, or peat soil and are available as early mid-season and late varieties. It’s best to grow at least two bushes for sufficient pollination.

There are different blueberry varieties developed for different climates in the US, so it’s best to choose the type of plant that will grow in your area to avoid disappointment. You need to grow at least two plants at a time for pollination and to produce larger berries. Low chill southern highbush blueberries grow best in USDA Plant Hardiness zones 7-10, while northern highbush strawberries grow best in zones 4-7.

3. Raspberries

Growing raspberries
Raspberries growing on a bush in the garden. Raspberries with leaf.

Raspberries are some of the most common berry bushes that are easy to cultivate. It often springs up in wooded areas and grows in places where plants haven’t taken hold yet. They grow best in full sun to partial shade, and they return year after year. Raspberry canes can grow up to six feet tall, so make sure you have enough space wherever you choose to plant them.

There are both summer-bearing and fall-bearing varieties, and they come in red, pink, orange, yellow, and purple varieties. You can grow raspberries both in the summer and fall to extend your harvest season.

4. Blackberries

berries of blackberry on the bush
big berries of blackberry on green background

Blackberries  are related to raspberries and are easy to grow. Like raspberries, blackberries can be purchased in thorned and thornless varieties. They are low-maintenance and highly productive fruits, though you might need to fend off the birds. This plant is especially beloved by bees and foragers.

Blackberries are great to eat on their own but are also used in pies and jams. The blackberry fruits bear on canes which are one to two years old and can be one of the heavy-cropping berry plants on this list. It also loves a warm climate, making it productive anywhere in zones 7-9.

5. Blackcurrants

Harvest. Black currant in the garden on a Sunny summer day.
Harvest. Black currant in the garden on a Sunny summer day.

Blackcurrants are perfect for sorbet and sauces for ice cream or yogurt. These are the most intensely colored and flavored of all currants with a highly aromatic and delicious tart flavor.

These fruits are grown on hardy perennial shrubs to zone 2 and can produce pounds of fruit per year once it got established. These are one of the few berry bushes that grow in Blackcurrants are propagated by taking hardwood cuttings, as well as potted plants and bare roots.

6. Huckleberries

Huckleberries on a garden

Huckleberries are found wild across the many areas of the United States. These berries are perennial shrubs that remain evergreen throughout the year and grow up to three feet tall when exposed to full sun, but they can also grow 10 feet or more when grown in the shade. 

 Huckleberries prefer acidic soil and will bear black-purple berries after growing pink flowers in spring. Huckleberry bushes are easily grown from seeds or from cuttings.

7. Wineberries

Edible Wild Raspberries
Edible red Asian wild raspberries in macro closeup imagery

Wineberries are closely related to raspberries – the plants are even often confused for one another. They have similar taste profiles, and it’s just as easy to grow! As you may also expect from the name, these fruits also make delicious wine! They also make fresh additions to pies, beers, wine, syrups, and mead.

Wineberries grow in the wild in many parts of the United States, primarily in the Appalachian Mountains. They are commonly found along the edges of roadsides and fields, and their stems are covered in red thorns and hairs. These berries grow in zones 4-8 and can grow up to 9 feet tall.

8. Marionberries

Wooden box with baskets of Marionberries
A wooden box of freshly picked Marionberries

Marionberries are red-black berries that make delicious pies and jams. They aren’t as common as other kinds of berries, but they are delicious and nutritious nonetheless. They descended from raspberries, blackberries, and loganberries. Marionberries were developed in Marion County, Oregon, by the Oregon State University.

These dense trailing plants can be trained up a trellis with self-pollinating bushes. Marionberry bushes grow in USDA zones 6 to 9. You can grow them in colder areas that have a low winter rainfall if you leave the canes on the ground and mulch them over winter.

9. Elderberries

Forest black elderberry, shrub with berries
Forest black elderberry, shrub with berries image

Elderberries make fantastic jams, syrups, and wine! Even if you don’t know what to do with the fruits from your elderberry bushes, you’ll love growing these plants as they produce mop-head flowers with an enjoyable fragrance.

This berry bush is best grown in full sun and propagate with cuttings. It grows wild near the mountains and canyons and is often found in the hedgerows in England.

10. Ground cherries

A bush of decorative Physalis or Winter Cherry on a background of a wooden wall.
A bush of decorative Physalis on a background of a wooden wall.

Also known as husk tomatoes, cape gooseberries, or physalis – ground cherries are part of the nightshade family. They are a sweet-tart relative to the tomatillo.

Typically, ground cherries are grown as annuals, but they are native to some parts of the US. They can be grown in zone 4 or warmer. It’s best to start the seed indoors for about 6-8 weeks before the last frost. Grow the ground cherries in a sunny spot in the garden and make sure to give them at least an inch of water every week.

11. Cranberries

Cranberry branches with ripe berries
Cranberry branches with ripe berries in a white mug on a wooden table in the garden.

Cranberry is a popular superfood often consumed in the form of sauce or juice. It’s used as a traditional accompaniment to turkey during Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners in North America.

Cranberries aren’t hard to grow at home as long as you have the right environment. To grow some cranberries, you need acidic and peaty soil, as well as plenty of fresh water. Cranberries are usually cultivated in a wetland or pond area, but if you have a raised bed with steady grip irrigation, you can grow it there, too.

12. Boysenberries

boysenberry bush with ripening berries
closeup of boysenberry bush with ripening berries

Boysenberries are a large bramble fruit considered to be a cross of blackberry, raspberry, loganberry, and dewberries. These berries make exceptional pie fillings, jam, juice, syrups, and ice cream. Boysenberries are characterized by their thin skins, soft texture, and sweet-tart flavor.

These berries grow upright on canes and need trellis supports. It’s best to grow more than one plant to ensure good pollination and a better harvest in August. They produce large purple berries that look like blackberries, too.