Growing Blackberries.

[sg31]

In my last garden I grew raspberries (bear with me) and they sent underground runners out all over. I found out that I should have put an underground barrier around the plants to stop this happening. In this garden I will do this and hopefully this will be successful.

I also fancy growing blackberries but I am concerned with them spreading and getting out of hand. I know the branches will root if allowed to touch the ground, I can cope with that but does anyone know if they send out underground shoots like raspberries and if so is there a way to stop them.

If anyone has tried growing blackberries I would be interested in their experiences and appreciate any advice provided even if it is to avoid them.

[RedSnapper]

Blackberries [i]can[i] be very easy to grow. You really need a framework to tie them to. This is not so much for support as for tidiness.

Some blackberries (earlys) fruit on last years growth. These plants need to be pruned after fruiting each spring and then often again at the end of autumn to tidy them up, leaving sufficient current years growth for them to fruit next year.

Other blackberries (typically later fruiting) fruit on current years growth and grow quite vigorously in the early part of the year. These can be pruned as hard as you like after fruiting.

They don't spread like raspberries. They send up new shoots from the base so are very easy to control. Tie the main stems in to a framework and they are a doddle.

[sg31]

Redsnapper, thanks for that. Very reassuring.

[RedSnapper]

Oh, nearly forgot....birds love them. Netting is definitely required if you've got any birds within 50 miles....

[Lootman]

I haven't planted blackberries but there is a large section of my garden that has wild blackberries. The fruit is superb and so I try and manage the plants. It's not so much that you have to cultivate them but more that you have to constrain them spreading everywhere.

As you note, they will root themselves and, moreover, will then grow horizontally underground to re-emerge several feet away. I even had one bury itself under a wall and then sprout the other side. So it's rather like some types of bamboo in that regard - you have to be aggressive in managing it.

And have very thick gloves because of all the thorns that will otherwise impale you.

The type I have follows a two-year growth cycle. In the first year it grows green shoots and leaves, easily growing 6 or more feet in a season. The second year it will flower, then bear fruit, and then decay. It's important to remove the shoots once they become dry brush. I usually just burn them.

All in all, it's something of a battle but I respect any plant that can thrive without care. It's near impossible to kill off, so containment is the key.

[ReformedCharacter]

I haven't planted blackberries but there is a large section of my garden that has wild blackberries.

...

All in all, it's something of a battle but I respect any plant that can thrive without care. It's near impossible to kill off, so containment is the key.

Ah yes, known hereabouts as brambles. My garden is under constant attack as both of my neighbours have them in plentitude. I have pretty much eradicated them from my garden by putting on my gardening gloves and pulling them out as soon as I see them. I do like them though. They make good natural barbed wire, are excellent sources of nectar for honeybees and make fine honey. Blackberry and apple pie is nice. I wouldn't take the trouble to plant one myself though, there are much more interesting cane fruits to grow such as the Tayberry or even a Loganberry. Loganberries make fabulous jam. Then of course there are raspberries...

RC

[RedSnapper]

Brambles, yes, thugs! Cultivated blackberries on the other hand are much better behaved. You have on when they fruit and can even get them thornless. Much tamer beasts that produce bountiful and very tasty fruit.

[sg31]

Any recommendations for a good blackberry to plant? I need something easily controlled, decent crop and a good flavour.

[6Tricia]

I planted a 'Reuben' two years ago. ashwoodnurseries.com and others offer plants at very reasonable prices. I leave new growth to overwinter (here in the southwest it's pretty much evergreen) and cut the current year's canes back to soil level. This way I get fruit over a long period which are huge and flavoursome. Very happy with my choice.

Tricia

[UncleEbenezer]

Just raid your local hedges at the appropriate season. Save precious cultivated space in your garden for stuff that doesn't grow on trees for free. Bushes really. You know what I mean

Yes and no.

The principle is sound, but the blackberries growing in my garden offer a much nicer crop than I've ever had from the hedgerows, due no doubt in large measure to the absence of human competition for them. The absence of nettles living symbiotically with the brambles is a bonus.

The ones in my garden are serious thugs earlier in the season. I haven't looked into varieties genetically modified to be friendlier as suggested by others in this thread.

[ReformedCharacter]

There are many different types of 'bramble', some better for eating than others:

'The brambles form a complex, group often referred to collectively as R. fruticosus L. agg.. Plants are very variable in almost all characters and over 300 microspecies are recognised. Some forms are less common on calcareous soils while others are widespread on chalk and clay. The taxonomy is still under investigation and field identification requires expert confirmation.'

https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/weeds/bramble

Here's an article from the RHS describing cultivation of the blackberry:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your ... ackberries

And a list of available cultivars, the largest selection I have seen:

https://www.chrisbowers.co.uk/category/blackberries/

RC

[ReformedCharacter]

I also fancy growing blackberries but I am concerned with them spreading and getting out of hand. I know the branches will root if allowed to touch the ground, I can cope with that but does anyone know if they send out underground shoots like raspberries and if so is there a way to stop them.

Heavy duty root barrier as shown here:

http://www.foodproduction101.com/how-to ... t-barrier/

RC

[sg31]

6Tricia, I was aware of Reuben but it seems to get mixed revues. Nice to hear a good report on it.

ap8889. As others have said cultivated blackberries are much bigger and hopefully tastier. I've got plenty of room so a little area for controlled blackberries is ok in the scheme of things.

Reformed Character, nice articles, thanks for the link to Chris Bowers. The root barrier is exactly what I will install before planting my raspberries.

Thanks all. Shame we don't have a rec system yet.

[neversay]

Thanks for an interesting thread. I had no idea that raspberries sent out runners and need underground control.

As a gardening novice, I have a small area set aside for berries of all different types - partly to get the kids used to identifying the fruit/plants and doing some controlled foraging. However, the birds beat us to much of the fruit last year (good for them!). I'm currently mulling a fruit cage which would be approximately 3m long, 2m wide and I guess 1.5 to 2m tall. Can anyone recommend a cheap/easy/sturdy solution?

[Slarti]

Thanks for an interesting thread. I had no idea that raspberries sent out runners and need underground control.

As a gardening novice, I have a small area set aside for berries of all different types - partly to get the kids used to identifying the fruit/plants and doing some controlled foraging. However, the birds beat us to much of the fruit last year (good for them!). I'm currently mulling a fruit cage which would be approximately 3m long, 2m wide and I guess 1.5 to 2m tall. Can anyone recommend a cheap/easy/sturdy solution?

A neighbour a few doors down has built one by bending thin plastic pipe into hoops and covering it with 2 layers of fine net he got from a local garden centre after I told him about the similar net I got to put over the Sky dish to stop the Collared Doves trying to build a nest on it and thereby blocking the signal.

No idea how he secured his hoops, though.

Slarti

[neversay]

Thanks Slarti. I hadn't got the time/appetite to do a major construction, but bending pipes sounds about my level. I will investigate that option.