As new homes go up, yards are becoming smaller. Turn those ugly walls and fences into living landscapes by planting grapes, blackberries and boysenberries. These versatile plants will liven up a landscape and they grow in just about any nook and cranny. And instead of growing ornamental ground covers, plant strawberries. These also are beautiful and so easy to grow.

Turn an ordinary patio into a grape arbor. That's what Pete Duncombe did at the Gardens at the Springs Preserve. He planted grapes by each pillar of an arbor. As the grapes grew, he twisted the canes around the pillars to give that corkscrewed look as the vines crawled upward. It is very attractive. Each spring, he trains new canes over the roof and clusters of grapes hang through the arbor for easy plucking.

The newly created arbor provides a green ceiling and becomes a summer room. During the winter, the grapes shed their leaves to allow sun to warm the arbor area.

Strawberries are so flexible. Glossy leaves and showy flowers cover these ground huggers and fruit soon follows. In the fall, foliage turns a dazzling orange to red. Plant strawberries around trees and shrubs to cool the microclimate so they will produce larger and sweeter berries.

Strawberries were once known as "strewberries," because the berries were strewn or scattered among the plants. In time, however, they became known as "strawberries" when they became analogous with straw mulch.

Strawberries make an ideal container plant. Nurseries sell strawberry barrels with several holes in the sides. All you do is fill the barrel with potting soil and plant berry plants in the holes. As the season progresses, it makes a nice display as the berries hang down the side of the barrel.

Despite claims made in advertisements, there are no climbing strawberries, no varieties that produce fruit bigger than silver dollars -- especially in our climate -- and no varieties that will produce fruit all year. Legal action has already established these facts.

And who says hedges have to consist of privets, euonymus or junipers? Blackberries or boysenberries make excellent hedges. Their ornamental leaves have all the beauty of other shrubs and the berries become a welcome bonus, even if you get the juice all over your face.

Small fruits are just about the best bargain you'll get at the nursery. Once you establish the plants in your yard, you'll never have to buy others.

Here is a list of hybrids that Nevada Cooperative Extension recommends for Las Vegas. In the grape category are Thompson seedless, Perlette, Flame seedless and Black Munukka. Strawberries that perform well are the Lassen, Shasta, Sequoia and Tioga. Blackberries include Brazos and Ebony King. The boysenberry comes thorned and thornless. Needless to say, I highly recommend the thornless boysenberry.

Soil preparation is critical for small fruit production. These plants have a fibrous root system that is not competitive with our tight soils, which makes it difficult to almost impossible for them to function. These roots also need good drainage, because they can't take wet feet. Add copious amounts of organic matter -- compost, planter mix, etc. -- along with phosphorous and sulfur to the soil. Phosphorus stimulates roots and the sulfur neutralizes the alkali.

Avoid using steer manure when planting small fruits. Manure is high in salts and creates iron deficiency later in the season. You'll note this by severe yellowing of the leaves.

It is a must to plant these small fruits at the same soil line found in their container. This is especially true of strawberries. If you cover the crown or expose the roots, the plant may die.

When grown under ideal conditions, small fruits like an acid soil and our soils are alkaline. Therefore, use a sulfur-based fertilizer such as 21-0-0 to create an ideal environment. These small fruits also are poor foragers for iron, so add iron chelates to correct yellowing plants.

Mulching is especially critical with strawberries. Mulch cools the soil and the area around the berries, and as a result you'll have larger berries. By season's end, the micro organics will break the organic matter down and take it down in the soil and that's good.

To propagate grapes, select canes about 12 to 14 inches in length. Plant several with two to three buds above ground in clusters for easier handling until they root. Keep the soil moist until the canes leaf out.

Strawberry plants, which we call "mother plants," produce "daughters" each year. After harvesting your spring berry crop, mother plants send runners out a foot or so. As runners make contact with the warm ground, the new daughters root down to form new plants. To propagate these daughter plants or end of runners, place them on pots of prepared soil. Use hairpins to secure runners until the daughters root down. In a few short weeks, clip the daughter runners from the mother and place them in permanent locations. Now the hard part: Destroy the mother plants and let the daughters fill in to keep berries more productive.

To propagate blackberries and boysenberries, bend canes down to the ground, secure them and cover with soil. After rooting, cut the new plants from their mother and plant in a new area.

Space the grapes at least 8 to 10 feet apart; the blackberries and boysenberries about 5 to 6 feet apart; and the strawberries about 12 to 18 inches apart. Homeowners want to crowd plants but remember, the sun must kiss the leaves to produce sugars that make fruit sweeter.

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

The master gardeners are offering two more gardening classes at the Nevada Cooperative Extension Lifelong Learning Center, 8050 S. Maryland Parkway. To reserve a seat, call 257-5555.

Garden fresh and flavorful veggies: At 7 p.m. today, let master gardener Elaine Fagin show you how to make vegetable gardening easier and produce healthier crops. She also will discuss soil improvements, pests and their remedies. Fagin continues to share her expertise, with more than 1,350 hours of community service with an emphasis on children's projects.

Compost -- From Trash to Treasure: At 7 p.m. Tuesday, master gardener Pam Goodwill will discuss composting and small worm farming and steps to making compost bins. The expert has gardened since childhood in Las Vegas and has donated more than 250 hours of service.

Linn Mills writes a gardening column each Thursday. You can reach him at linn.mills@lvspringspreserve.org or at the Gardens at the Springs Preserve at 822-8325.