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How to Grow Blackberries: The Complete Guide

Image Credit:
Pixabay
Botanical Name
Rubus fruticosus
Grown as
Perennial
USDA Zones
5a
5b
6a
6b
7a
7b
8a
8b
9a
9b
Toxicity
Non-toxic
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Water Needs
Moderate
Height
6-10 feet
Spread
3-6 feet
Soil pH
Acidic
Bloom Time
Summer
Flower Color
White
Special Features
Erosion Control
Attracts Butterflies
Attracts Pollinators
Attracts Songbirds
Resilience
Clay Soil Tolerant
Heat-Tolerant
Plant Type
Fruit
Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Blackberries, like raspberries, are very easy to grow. Once this native berry is ripe, get ready for an abundant harvest, picking every couple of days! Here’s how to grow and harvest blackberries in your backyard.

All blackberries are perennials; the roots survive year after year. However, the top of the plant above the soil is what we call biennial. This means that the canes grow vegetatively for a year, bear fruit the next year, and then die. However, every year the plant sends up new canes to replace those that died! For a great fruit harvest and to avoid a messy plant, pruning is important. (Learn about proper pruning techniques below.)

Planting

When to Plant Blackberries

  • Plant when the canes are dormant, preferably in early spring.
    • Planting may also be done in late fall; however, it should be delayed until early spring in very cold areas, as low temperatures could kill some hybrid varieties.
  • Blackberries and their hybrids are all self-fertile, so multiple plants are not needed for fruit production.

Choosing and Preparing a Planting Site

  • Select a site that receives full sun for the best berry yields.
  • Soil needs to be fertile with good drainage. Add organic content to enrich your soil. (Learn more about soil amendments and preparing soil for planting.)
  • Make sure you plant your blackberries far away from wild blackberries, which may carry (plant) diseases that could weaken your own plants.

How to Plant Blackberries

  • For semi-erect cultivars, space plants 5 to 6 feet apart. Space erect cultivars 3 feet apart. Space trailing varieties 5 to 8 feet apart. Space rows about 8 feet apart.
  • Plant shallowly: about 1 inch deeper than they were grown in the nursery.

Growing

How to Care for Blackberries

  • Mulching is important throughout the season to conserve moisture and suffocate weeds. Keep a thick layer of mulch surrounding plants at all times.
  • Blackberries require plenty of moisture, especially when growing and ripening. Ensure plants receive 1 inch of water per week and more in hot temperatures.
  • Blackberries benefit from fertilizing in early spring with an all-purpose fertilizer such as 10-10-10, or a 16-16-8. 

Trellis Trailing Blackberries

As mentioned above, trailing blackberries need a trellis or support. Explore a two-wire system, running a top wire at 5 to 6 feet with a second line 18 inches below the top wire. After the first year, there will be fruiting floricanes along the wires. Train the new primocanes into a narrow row below the fruiting canes. Directing all canes in one direction may make it simpler.

Pruning

We have provided detailed pruning information below, but do not be scared. The main idea is to simply remove the old canes that already bore fruit and let new ones take their place. 

  • Trailing blackberries: After the fruit harvest period, the old fruiting (floricanes) are removed to the ground. However, unless there is a lot of disease, it’s best to delay removing the old fruiting canes until they have died back considerably. This allows the dying canes to move nutrients back into the crown and roots. After you remove the old fruiting canes, you may train the primocanes up on the wires. Work with one or two canes at a time in a spiral around the trellis wires. Canes from adjacent plants may overlap a little. No pruning of primocanes is necessary.

In areas with low winter temperatures, it’s fine to leave the primocanes on the ground for the winter, where they could be mulched for winter protection. In the spring, after the danger of extreme cold has passed, train the old primocanes (now considered floricanes) up on the wires. Avoid working with the canes in cold weather, as they are more prone to breaking.

  • Erect blackberries produce stiff, shorter canes that come from the crown and from root suckering (often forming a hedgerow).

    Erect blackberries benefit from summer pruning. Remove the top 1 to 2 inches of new primocanes when they are 4 feet tall. This causes the canes to branch, increasing next year’s yields. Plants will require several pruning sessions to tip each cane as it reaches the 4-foot height. Primocanes (suckers) that grow outside the hedgerow should be regularly removed.

    In the winter, remove the dead floricanes (old fruiting canes) from the hedgerow. Also, shorten the lateral branches to about 1½ to 2½ feet.

  • If you have primocane-fruiting erect blackberries, which are harvested in late summer/early autumn, cut all canes to the ground in the late winter (after the fall crop). In the summer, when the primocanes are 3½ feet tall, remove the top 6 inches. The primocanes will branch, thereby producing larger yields in the fall.

  • If you have semi-erect blackberries, they are easier to manage on a Double T Trellis. Install 4-foot cross arms at the top of a 6-foot post. Install a 3-foot cross arm about 2 feet below the top line. String high-tensile wire down the rows, connecting to the cross arms.

    Semi-erect berries need to be pruned in the summer. When the primocanes are 5 feet tall, remove the top 2 inches to encourage branching. Several pruning sessions will be required as canes reach the appropriate height. In the winter, remove the dead floricanes (old fruiting canes). Spread the primocanes (new floricanes) out along the trellis. Canes do not need to be shortened. However, they can be if they are difficult to train.

Harvesting

How to Harvest Blackberries

  • Pick only berries that are fully black. Mature berries are plump yet firm, a deep black color, and pull freely from the plant without a yank. Berries do not ripen after being picked.
  • Once blackberries start to ripen, they must be picked often—every couple of days. 
  • When picking, keep the central plug within the fruit (unlike raspberries).
  • Harvest during the cooler parts of the day. Once picked, place berries in the shade and refrigerate as soon as possible.

How to Store Blackberries

  • Blackberries are highly perishable and will only last a few days once harvested, even with refrigeration. 
  • Although fresh fruit is always best, blackberries can be stored by canning, preserving, or freezing. Techniques used for freezing blueberries can also be used on blackberries.

Pests and Problems

  • Raspberry Borers
  • Fruit Worms
  • Gray Mold
  • Viruses
    • If your plant is suffering from the blackberry disease known as Raspberry Bushy Dwarf virus, the leaves will have some bright yellow on them, and the leaves of the fruiting vines may have a bleached look in the summer. The disease known as Blackberry Calico will cause faint yellow blotches on the leaves of the plant.

Types

Basically, there are three types of blackberries:

  1. Erect thorny blackberries
  2. Erect thornless blackberries
  3. Trailing thornless blackberries

Erect blackberries are bushes that support themselves, while the trailing blackberries have long canes that must be trellised for support.

Wit and Wisdom

Blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries are very high in ellagic acid, which is an antioxidant that acts as a scavenger, helping to make potential cancer-causing chemicals inactive. Ellagic acid reduces the genetic damage caused by carcinogens like tobacco smoke and air pollution. Blackberries also contain other antioxidants that can help lower cholesterol and ward off cardiovascular disease.

Fruit

About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening, so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana.

Read more from Catherine Boeckmann

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Comments

<span>Nathan Teaford</span> Sun, 04/27/2014 - 19:29
Just planted new blackberries from cuttings. Cut the "suckers" out of the ground myself and dipped in rooting hormone before placing in dirt. I have watered just enough to be moist but the leaves are curling. If the leaves initially fall off will they come back and how long should I give them. Would love any answer. Thank you.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Wed, 04/30/2014 - 10:50

Did you capture any root in the cutting?

Root cuttings are best made in the fall by cutting roots the size of a pencil or larger into 3- to 6-inch lengths and storing them at 32°F in moist, not wet, peat moss. These can be planted in mid-winter (depending on your zone) to early spring. 

However, propogating plants from those of a neighbor can introduce unwanted root-rot organisms or viruses into your soil. It is best to purchase disease-free plants from a nursery.

 <span>Taralynn585</span> Sat, 04/26/2014 - 16:14
I have discovered many large patches of blackberries around our home in East Texas. I am going to watch a couple videos on how to prune them next year but can you tell me if this will help the berries grow larger in size? Or do I simply need to wait before picking for them to get larger?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 04/29/2014 - 08:01

How exciting to have your own blackberries. In East Texas, they are probably erect blackberries. Prune when the canes reach 36 inches high to encourage more branching.
Just keep in mind that erect blackberries are biennials so the canes (which bear the fruit) will have berries on their second year. According to your East Texas Cooperative Extention, "At the end of your growing season, you can mark which canes grew during that season. This will mark next year's fruit bearing canes (called floricanes) for easy removal after their second growing and fruit-producing season. The floricanes will bloom in March, and the fruit ripens in May. At the end of the season remove the marked canes and apply the paint to that season's prima canes. Repeat each year for carefree maintenance of your blackberry plants."

 <span>Kim Koch</span> Tue, 04/22/2014 - 20:25
I have a three year old blackberry bush that just broke about a foot up from the base of the plant. It was leafy and getting ready to bloom. Is there anyway to save it? Its never flowered before and we were really excited that it was blooming!
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Wed, 04/23/2014 - 13:25

Oh, bummer! Blackberry bushes are very hardy and it should survive though you may not get so many berries this year.

You could even lay the broken piece down and cover it is several spots and see if it takes root. Then you'll have two!

We hope it turns out.

 

 <span>Joeappl</span> Thu, 04/10/2014 - 17:03
I have two large trellises of boysenberries. Last year, I had a water issue and my berries didn't grow well. The plants grew new canes over the winter. I pruned as I always do in January. The leaves on 80% of my vines started to bud, then stopped. I have vines with little bits of growth, but no big leaves or flowers. I have two or three sections that bloomed normally. I'm not sure what is going on.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 04/21/2014 - 16:03

This inquiry is interesting and a little confusing. Watering may indeed be the key factor, but that depends on other things. We never water our boysenberries after the first year or two, and they seem very hardy. In seven or so years we've probably had years that were better than others, but never anything terrible. We're not sure how old your plants are, and "had a water issue" doesn't explain much. Climate and weather don't seem to be the issue, if part of your plant "bloomed normally".  As it's hard to diagnose this one online, we'd suggest you contact your local cooperative extension!

 <span>Amanda Mackler</span> Sun, 03/23/2014 - 08:23
My property came with what appear to be messy thickets of Blackberry bushes. They bear fruit nicely but we can't access much of the fruit because of the density of the plants. I want to keep the plants but thin them, perhaps carve a path between them. Thought it would be easier to do this while they are dormant and without foliage but I don't know what to remove and what to leave. In summer it looks like there is a great deal of dead growth in there. Any advice? Thank you! Sorry if this is a repeat question.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 03/24/2014 - 17:25

There are several Q&As about pruning on this page if you scroll down a bit. It sounds like your blackberries need a good pruning and it's not going to hurt them if you cut them way back before they start growing this spring. Many of the cooperative extensions have pruning advice and step by step how-to instructions. Here is one
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1431.html
Also look for how-to prune videos online.