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🍀🌸🌿 Master the art of berry gardening as we take a deep dive into how to care for blackberry plants. This comprehensive guide is filled with expert tips and practical advice that will help...
- 3 min
- 213
- How Often to Water
This advice is just based off of my lived experience but regardless keeping track of which canes are which can be very helpful in maximizing how much your plants will produce for you! # ...
- 6 min
- 1062
- From The Garden
Dec 12, 2017 · How to Prune Blackberries. In this video, Beverly Welch is joined by Angela Chandler from The Garden Academy. They show us how to prune blackberries, which take minimal maintenance and care...
- 11 min
- 80.1K
- The Arbor Gate
Jul 3, 2021 · Pruning blackberry bushes will not only help keep blackberries healthy, but can also help promote a larger crop. Blackberry pruning is easy to do once you know the steps. Let's take a look at how to trim blackberry bushes and when to prune blackberry bushes.
- One of the most common questions about blackberries is, “When do you cut back blackberry bushes?” There are actually two different types of blackbe...
- In the spring, you should be doing tip pruning on your blackberries. Tip pruning is exactly what it sounds like; it is cutting off the tips of the...
- In the summer, after the blackberries are done fruiting, you will need to do clean up blackberry pruning. Blackberries only produce fruit on canes...
- Why Do Blackberries Need Pruning?
- When to Prune Blackberries
- How to Prune Summer-bearing Blackberries
- How to Prune Fall-Bearing (Primocane) Blackberries
- Is There A Difference in Pruning Thorny vs. Thornless Blackberries?
- Blackberry Pruning Before and After
- At-A-Glance: Blackberry Pruning Quick Reference Guide
Blackberries need to be pruned to control the plant’s overall size, increase the berry harvest, and improve fruit size and sweetness. Pruning will also increase air circulation around the plant, minimizing pest and disease issues. In the video below, I show you exactly how I prune my summer-bearing ‘Arapaho‘and ‘Navaho‘blackberry bushes in the spri...
Pruning can accomplish different purposes, depending on what time of year it’s done. Pruning essentially sends messages to the plant to release certain hormones that make it grow in a particular way. Trimming the plant while it is dormant, for example, will affect growth differently than trimming during the growing season. In the late winter or ear...
Gather Your Tools
The equipment required for pruning blackberries is simple. Pruners, loppers, and gloves are all you need. I use a pair of bypass pruners like this one, which provides a clean cut without compressing or tearing the plant. For thicker branches or canes, you may need to use some bypass loppers, such as these(which I use). The longer handles allow you to cut thicker growth, using more force with less effort. Gloves aren’t as essential with thornless brambles as they are with thorny ones. But in e...
Dormant Pruning
Most blackberry pruning should be done while the plant is dormant. Depending on the climate, the plant may or may not lose all of its leaves over the winter, but it will stop growing. The best time to prune is right as you start to see the buds swell, or just before, in the late winter or very early spring.
Pruning During the Growing Season
Once the warm weather hits, the blackberry plants will start growing. The 2nd-year floricanes will produce leaves, branches, and blossoms. New primocanes will grow from the base of the plant at the crown.
There are two ways to prune fall-bearing blackberries. The 1-crop method is the simplest, essentially removing all second-year canes and leaving only the primocanes each year. But, this will result in the plant only bearing fruit once during the season in the early fall. The 2-crop method allows fruit to grow on both second-year canes in summer and...
When pruning thorny blackberry plants, it is essential to protect hands and arms with leather gloves and long sleeves. Thorny plants sometimes produce more vegetation and canes than thornless ones, so it may be necessary to do more thinning of the plant.
Below is one of my ‘Navaho’ blackberries before dormant pruning: And here is the same plant after pruning, following the steps above: The canes have been thinned at the base and tip-pruned to about 42 inches, and lateral branches have been shortened.
Summer-Bearing Blackberries
1. IN LATE WINTER: Remove dead or diseased canes or branches. 2. Keep the strongest 4 to 6 canes, trim the rest to the ground. 3. Tip prune canes to be 36 to 48 inches long. 4. Trim lateral branches to be 12 to 18 inches. 5. For trailing blackberries, re-attach to trellis as needed. 6. IN SUMMER: As canes grow, tip prune to be 36 to 48 inches long (or the height of the trellis wire) 7. IN FALL: After fruiting, trim spent floricanes to the ground. Shorten remaining primocanes as needed. 8. Cov...
Fall-Bearing Blackberries
1. FOR A FALL CROP: Trim or mow down all canes in the late fall after fruiting. For a larger harvest, tip prune during the growing season once the canes grow beyond 3 feet. 2. FOR A SUMMER AND FALL CROP: Remove dead or diseased canes at any time (including 2-year-old floricanes that have already fruited. Keep primocanes over winter, trimming length as necessary, so they will fruit the following summer.
Jul 20, 2024 · Unpruned blackberry vines grow wild and unruly, often becoming diseased and difficult to control. Proper pruning ensures more abundant yields, healthier vines, and tidy trellises for aesthetically pleasing landscapes. Let’s dig into 10 quick tips that will help you prune like a pro every season!
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Learn how to grow blackberry plants step-by-step—planting, care through the season, and harvest—your complete guide to growing blackberries!
