Thornless blackberries

[MandaElaine]

Does anyone have experience growing blackberries? Last winter I planted two small thornless blackberry shoots that I purchased from a coworker. By mid-summer they hadn't done much. I was pregnant during the hottest part of the summer and was not able to maintain my garden.

When I went to my garden to survey the damage a few weeks ago, I realized that my blackberries have taken over! They are in a bed with several strawberry plants that are also quite large. The blackberries, however, spread on the ground since they were never trellised. Should I leave them as they are, or attempt to train them to grow on a structure?

 

[Arzosah]

I've no experience gardening with them, but bearing in mind what blackberry plants look like in the wild - I'd say, train them! They can very easily cover, say, a squash court full, in much less time than you'd think - and it sounds like your soil suits them. If you train them, they're growing vertically, and I bet you could sort of have two layers - they shelter their fruit underneath the leaves, after all, so a bit of shade won't hurt the cropping. Great result, as long as they don't invade the rest of your garden!

 

[MandaElaine]

Thanks for the advice. They have actually grown across the ground, gone underground in one spot, and came up in another! They are in a raised bed, so they are easier to contain than they would be if they were planted in the ground. I think I will see if I can train them to grow up a structure, but I will leave the runners that have already spread.

The soil in that bed must be good, because I have two vining strawberry plants that were planted last year in the bed as well. They started as small plants and are now covering an entire 10ft x 10ft bed! I hope that they blackberries and strawberries are able to grow together, because I would hate to be forced to remove one!

 

[sharp square]

I would recommend training them to grow up some kind of structure like a trellis. I grow my blackberries along the fence line around my garden and i find having then growing up a structure like my fence or a trellis makes them much easier to harvest. Plus they are much easier to water and keep fertilized when they are organized and not spread over such an area.

 

[evelynmcgregor]

Definily train the blackberries on a trellis of some kind. And easy one would be chicken wire or what is called hog wire (has rectangular openings) with wooden posts as supports. It will be far easier to pick them and you will not lose the ones toward the middle of your "jungle."