Rubus fruticosus
Blackberry
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −18 °C
- Pruning
- Mar, Aug, Sep
- Harvest
- Jul–Oct
- Spacing
- 150 cm, rows 200 cm
- Water need
- Medium
- Origin
- Native to Germany
Photo: Ivar Leidus · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The blackberry produces kilograms of dark, sweet berries from mid-summer and grows almost everywhere. Thornless varieties such as 'Navaho' or 'Thornless Evergreen' are much more pleasant to harvest in the garden. When grown on a trellis, it remains tidy and well ventilated.
Care instructions
Plant in spring (April, week 15) in a sunny location with support for climbing. Guide the young canes along the wire and cut out spent canes at ground level immediately after harvest (September, week 38). Mulch well to keep the soil moist and reduce weeding.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
HarvestJul–Oct
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
loamy, humus-rich, well-drained, lime-avoiding
Blackberries like slightly acidic, humus-rich and well-drained soil, ideally medium-heavy, sandy loam. Be sure to avoid waterlogging; on heavy, wet soils, planting on a ridge or mound helps. Avoid lime: above pH 7 there is a risk of iron-deficiency chlorosis with yellow leaves.
Feeding
Heavy feeder
Months
Mar, Apr, Jun, Jul
In early spring (March or April) before new growth, work mature compost and horn shavings shallowly into the root zone. This covers the high demand for vigorous new growth. At flowering and fruit set (June or July), give a second light dose of mature compost or lay a mulch layer of wilted grass clippings. From August, stop feeding so that the shoots ripen and become frost-hardy.
Pruning
Cut spent canes out close to the ground straight after harvest (August to September) and tie 4 to 6 strong new canes to the trellis. The blackberry only fruits on two-year-old wood. In early spring (weeks 10 to 13), shorten the side shoots of the tied-in canes to a few buds.
Overwintering
Established blackberries outdoors are hardy in the lowlands of Germany, Austria and Switzerland and need no special protection. Cut the spent fruiting canes off close to the ground and tie the new shoots loosely to the trellis. Cover young plants or containers over the root zone with leaves; place containers in a sheltered spot against a house wall and wrap them in horticultural fleece.
Propagation
Methods
- Cuttings
- Layering
- Runners
Blackberries can be propagated in three proven vegetative ways. From seed the varieties do not come true and the effort is not worthwhile; grafting is unusual with blackberries.
Layering (most reliable method, especially for trailing varieties): In spring to early summer, bend a long, strong one-year-old shoot in an arc down to the ground. Press it, about 30 to 50 cm below the shoot tip, into a shallow hollow in loose soil, cover this spot with soil and weigh it down with a stone or wire staple so that the shoot does not spring back. The shoot tip sticks out at the top. By autumn the covered spot forms its own root system; then separate the layer from the mother plant with a spade and plant it in the desired location. With trailing varieties you can also press just the shoot tip into a small hollow and cover it with soil (tip layering); the plant forms roots there particularly quickly, and the young plant is separated in spring.
Cuttings (especially for upright varieties): In early summer, cut one-year-old, healthy shoots and divide them into sections 5 to 10 cm long with 2 to 3 leaf nodes each. Remove the lowest pair of leaves and insert the cutting into moist seed compost. Cover the pot with a clear cover or film to retain moisture. After about 3 to 4 weeks new leaves appear, a sign of successful rooting. Overwinter the rooted cuttings frost-free and plant them outdoors the following spring.
Root suckers (for varieties that produce suckers): Many blackberry varieties send out underground root suckers that sprout in new places. Dig up these young plants with as long a piece of root as possible once they are strong enough, ideally in spring or autumn outside the greatest heat. Plant them straight away at the new site and water in well.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae)
You can plant garlic and chives under strawberries and roses; their scent repels aphids and other pests.
For example OnionLeekChivesWild daffodilRocamboleElephant garlic and 11 more species in the catalogue
Source: Bio-Gärtnerei Mixed Culture Practice
Rather not
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
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Varieties
6 varieties‘Chester Thornless’
‚Chester Thornless’ is a thornless late blackberry with vigorous, semi‑branched growth and especially high frost hardiness of the flower buds.
‘Loch Ness’
Loch Ness is a thornless, semi upright blackberry and one of the most reliable all rounders for the home garden.
‘Navaho’
Navaho is a thornless dessert blackberry with upright, compact growth that can be kept in check even in smaller gardens.
‘Theodor Reimers’
Theodor Reimers is an old, proven blackberry that has been growing in German gardens for more than a hundred years.
‘Thornless Evergreen’
Thornless Evergreen is a thornless, very robust blackberry grown for a heavy late summer crop.
‘Wilsons Frühe’
Wilsons Frühe is one of the oldest garden blackberries and is valued above all for its early ripening: you can pick the…
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Where to get this plant
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