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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>East Tn</span> Tue, 07/02/2013 - 00:36
I planted blackberries along a wire fence. They've grown and are producing berries like nobody's business. However, though the berries are supposedly ripe (they give all the signs - willingly leaving the bush, plump, dark...) but they're pretty darn bitter. We've gotten a lot of rain lately, is that part of the problem?
<span>R Hays</span> Sun, 11/16/2014 - 11:13
Depends on what variety of blackberries you planted. Some are so bitter and tart even when fully ripe that it will put tears in your eyes. Case in point the Doyles thornless blackberries and also the Black Satin variety. Just keep in mind every variety of blackberry has its own unique flavor and sweetness. Just like every variety of apple tastes different, The Gala, Rome and Granny Smith and even the delicious apples.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 07/02/2013 - 15:38
Make sure to pick the berries when they are just starting to lose their glossiness and are beginning to soften. Watering too much or too little can sometimes cause bitterness--that probably applies to rain, too. Warm, sunny weather helps to sweeten the berries. If the weather has been cool and cloudy, or perhaps if your plants are getting too much shade, it may have affected the taste of the fruit. Although cultivated varieties are often bred for sweetness, often wild blackberries (even when transferred to the garden) can be bitter. Bitter berries are still good for pies, cooked sauces for ice cream, jams, etc. But be sure to add sugar or another sweetener.
<span>Sharyn</span> Sun, 06/30/2013 - 20:47
can I plant blackberries in a container on my lanai. I live in florida?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 07/02/2013 - 14:05
You can plant blackberries in large containers, such as a half barrel. Some cultivars do well in Florida (in fact, some blackberries are native to your state). Keep in mind that certain cultivars will need another cultivar for pollination, while others are self-fruitful. Plus, trailing types will require trellising. Harvest time is usually at some point in April to June. To help you get started, here is a Web site from the University of Florida with links to information on growing blackberries in your state, with recommended cultivars. http://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/giam/plants_and_grasses/fruits_vegetables/blackberries.html
<span>Pat Fix</span> Sat, 06/29/2013 - 13:26
I have just ordered 5 triple crown blackberry plants online and have some questions: Do they need to have a trellis ? Do wild blackberries 30 feet away need to be removed ? Will I have problems planting them in July ?
<span>R Hays</span> Sun, 11/16/2014 - 11:20
If you do not tie to a trellis system then every where the tips of that plant touches ground it will root and you will have a thicket of berries so thick you wont be able to walk through. However, this is one of few thornless berries that IS NOT UNDER PATENT SO YOU CAN MULTIPLY THEM FREELY without repercussions from the owners of the patents. A minimum of 200 feet is needed for the wild berries to be destroyed, the farther the better. I plant new plants whenever I get the time and money to get them. I have planted new plants every moth of the year. KEEP IN MIND that when you plant in the summer you have to water it daily to make sure the plants survive the heat of summer.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 07/02/2013 - 15:00
1) Although several nurseries say that Triple Crown's semi-erect canes are sturdy enough to support fruit without a trellis, many gardeners find that using a trellis makes care and maintenance easier. 2) It is best to remove any wild blackberries for at least 300 feet, in case they harbor any disease that can be transferred to the cultivated variety. 3) Although it's best to plant in spring, if your plants are being shipped in containers, then you should be OK planting in early July--as long as you keep up with the watering and care to help them through transplant shock and the heat of summer. For specific advice, we'd recommend that you contact the company from which you ordered the plants--they should be able to tell you the best way to care for your plants to ensure their survival in your area, for the time of year, and for the way the plants were shipped. (Bare-root plants should not be planted in summer, however, so we're guessing that your plants will be arriving in containers.)
<span>Bob Sands</span> Tue, 06/25/2013 - 20:45
Its June 25th and i have loads of ripe blackberries, but they taste sour. Should i leave on the bush longer????
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Wed, 06/26/2013 - 11:48
If the berries are dark black, plump and come off easily, they are ready to be picked. You may leave them on for a little longer to see if they get sweeter. A few days can make a big difference in taste.