Growing Blackberries In Your Home Garden

Growing Blackberries, Rubus fruticosus

In Europe, there are 300 wild species of growing blackberries. In the Middle Ages, blackberries were allowed to grow freely in the churchyards, thought to keep the ghosts of the deceased in their coffins.

As far as the birds and bees are concerned, plants do not come much better than this humble bramble from the blackberry bush. Even small animals enjoy the tasty fruit. Irresistible brambles are quick to produce which is one reason people love them.

Cultivation

The bushy vines send up suckers from the roots where stems touch the ground. With this growth habit and their thorny stems, the berries make a great privacy fence. Be sure to plant the berries where they have enough room to wander.

Although certain varieties can be trained up a trellis, the semi-erect variety Brazos grows with some stems sprawling and some upright.

The best starts for plants are typically begged from neighbors already growing berry plants. After you receive permission to dig up a few rooted shoots, plant in a prepared garden site to have the tasty berry growing forever.

Blackberry root cuttings planted in winter will be fruiting about 16 months later. Some fruit may be produced the first fall after dormant season planting.

Recommended varieties include Olallie, which produce large, sweet berries grown on thorny, trailing canes. The erect freestanding Shawnee is known for excellent quality and yield.Soil

* The berries adapt to a wide variety of soils.

* Blackberries prefer well-drained, sandy loam, and slightly acidic soils.

* Raised beds work well where drainage is poor.

* An acceptable pH level is within the 5.5 to 6.5 range.

* Set plants three feet apart in a row.

* Care and Feeding

Expect to water your bushes once or twice a week during the dry season. Feed new plantings every 8 to 10 weeks.

Fertilize February through September with three ounces of 6-6-6 or 8-8-8. Mature blackberry bushes should be given 5 ounces per plant in February, June, and late August.

Give the plants a thick mulch to conserve moisture and control weeds. Weed control is important because growing blackberries are very shallow rooted.

Herbicides are difficult to use because of the suckering nature of the plant. Mulching helps keep weeds controlled without causing damage to the new shoots.

Trim Blackberry Bushes

Growing blackberry can be divided into two groups of upright varieties requiring no support and trailing types who require a trellis of sorts to control their growth and support the load of fruit.

With a good yearly pruning to restrict the growth, growing blackberry plants are one of the easiest fruits to grow. Plants often grow rampant if left to themselves. With proper pruning, plants can be kept within manageable boundaries.

Every other row should be shredded to the ground as soon as the berries are harvested. These rows will produce a small crop of growing blackberries the following season. The unpruned rows will produce a large harvest and be shredded next year.

Harvesting Blackberry

Growing Blackberries should be harvested when fully ripe. It is extremely easy to fill a pot with plump berries from a backyard planting. Many of the productive varieties will produce as much as one gallon of fruit per foot of row.

Pick the juicy fruit when the color changes from red to purple and the berry is slightly soft. In the southern regions, harvesting begins in early spring.

At first, only a few of the blackberries will ripen, but soon picking will become an every other day affair for about thirty days.

Blackberry Pest Control

Cutting all the plants back to the ground immediately after the harvest removes many potential insect and disease problems along

with old non-productive canes. If diseases including leaf spot and anthracnose threaten the plants, check into organic controls for your area.

Although blackberry bushes are not immune to pests, most gardeners find the plants escape major infestations. If insects such as thrips, mites, stink bugs, and beetles pose a threat, look for pesticides specifically labeled for use on blackberries.

Blackberry Uses

The fruit you are most likely to have an overabundance of in your garden by fall is blackberries. After you and the entire neighborhood have had your fill of blackberry crumble, jam is also incredibly simple to make.

If you plan making preserves or jellies, a few red berries help make the fruit jell. In addition, a delicious cordial will last for a long time if it is kept in a cool dark place. The tonic is made with growing blackberries, white wine vinegar, sugar, and honey.

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