No matter the plant (berries, corn, peas, etc) for taller plants (unlike lettuce, spinach etc) I prefer N-S rows so the the sun can shine on both sides as it rises in the east and sets in the west.

Is shade from trees an issue? I had to orient my 2 grapevines E-W so they could get the full south sun - neighbor's trees cast shade on the E & W sides of the area for hours in the AM & PM.

What kind of berries??

Currants and raspberries.

No trees, lots of sun.

If you are planting these in orderly rows, N-S alignment would be preferred for the raspberries; the currant bushes, if planted close to the raspberries, should be to the south of the raspberries.

I'd go with N-S alignment. I'm in NY and currant bushes here would grow to be much larger than raspberry canes, so if planting in the N-S direction, I would put the currants on the north side of the raspberries.

eta: I'm thinking of red currants.

To clarify...

My garage is on the south side of the house and the raised bed is south of that (moved here in January). Into the low 30s again this weekend!

Everything would be south of the garage with no trees or other shading things. Lots of sun there. I am considering two rows of red raspberries and one row of red currants. There is about 20' from the garage to the property line.

They will succeed either way just do what works for the space.

Yes. Not everyone has a choice. My red and black currants and raspberries were planted where and how I could fit them in. They’re fine.

I can understand the logic planting them north to south but in practice I've planted everything I grow in both directions and could never detect a difference. I had the same question at one time and read what other claim about orientation, but through observation it's not something often practiced by farmers and scholars.

For a number of years I had to drive by the University of Minnesota's Agriculture college of food (CFANS) testing fields on a daily basis. I would stop and study crop orientation to appease my curiosity and observed no preference to the direction they plant. Corn and other crops planted east/west and north/west and concluded the direction was picked based on the best efficient use of the land and equipment.

If there is a slight yield loss due to orientation my analysis determined it wasn't enough to justify sacrificing space to plant north/south and the expense of turning around a tractor more often to accommodate a north/south orientation.

I've seen disciplined raspberry growers plant them both ways based on the landscape, and the same said for the lazy way. Mine run east-west the lazy way and based on convenience, with no Tee staking or wires and just mowing to keep them contained within a 3 ft. wide row. A neighbor goes the lazy way also running a row north-south and another east-west and honestly I can't tell the difference in yields or berry size and we both get more berries than we care to pick.

I will often stop and talk to strangers in their gardens if I see something unique or impressive and most are happy to talk and give a grand tour of their accomplishments. Only in a blue moon will I get a cold shoulder and not welcomed but given a chance people love talking about themselves and their interests.

One day I spotted a guy tending to his 6 rows of raspberries 100' long grown the disciplined way with guide wires on Tee posts, mulched ground and well pruned. He enjoyed discussing his accomplishment admitting it's work but his obsession and stated his neighbors call him the raspberry man. His were running East-west to fit his landscape.

His way is the right way but my lazy way fits too. Any Idea how you'll tend to your berries Jim?

Thanks to all for the input. I learned a lot here.

I will probably east/west on my rows, with currants south of the raspberry rows.