Blackberries

ripe blackberries
ripe blackberries

Introduction

It may seem strange to grow blackberries when there are many wild blackberries growing in the UK. However, cultivated blackberries grown in rich soil are larger and tastier, and just as hardy as their wild counterparts. Through optimising growing conditions, cultivated blackberries can be bigger, more juicy, and sweeter than wild blackberries.

Thornless blackberry varieties are available, making the crop a much less painful experience for a gardener, and appreciated by all fruit pickers at harvest time. A note of caution, blackberries love to spread and are hard to dig up, so the crop is best suited to large spaces which they can invade without causing trouble.

Planting

  • Combine plenty of well rotted manure and compost into the planting hole
  • Cover the rootball with 10 cm or 4 inches of soil
  • Space the canes at least 3 m apart

Harvesting

  • Pick the fruit ofter to avoid any spoiling on the canes (that can set off others)
  • Try to pick with the core in place
  • Enjoy fresh or freeze
Sow
(inside)
Sow
(outside)
Harvest
(fresh)
Harvest
(stored)
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
= jar, = freeze, = store

Varieties

Modern varieties of blackberry provide a choice of flowering and fruiting season:

  • Early season
  • Mid season
  • Late season
    The start and length of the fruiting season depends upon the variety.

Blackberries vary significantly in taste. Some blackberry varieties produce acidic fruit, especially when not fully ripe, and are best cooked in desserts or made into jam. Others are sweet and can be enjoyed eaten fresh.

Blackberries are commonly grown up a trellis, or wire strung horizontally between posts, in a similar method to raspberries. At the end of summer, all the canes that have fruited should be cut back to ground level. The remaining canes will be fresh new growth from the summer, and these will bear fruit the following year.

For the largest blackberries, water frequently at ground level when the canes start to flower. Avoid getting the fruit wet as this can cause disease.

Propagate blackberries by covering the tips of canes into compost. The tips will root, and when new shoots emerge the new plant can be cut away from the original cane and replanted where desired.

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Growing

Blackberries love to spread, and are hard to remove, driving their roots deep into the soil. I learned this the hard way, when I cleared my first allotment plot that was covered in blackberry bushes. If you have a large garden this is not a problem. If not, it is best to know in advance that you will need to keep a close eye on your blackberry canes so that they do not overwhelm your garden, or allotment plot.

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