Friend Mistook New BlackRaspberry Cane For Weeds!

[dirtcollar04]

I recently took a trip to see my family, 10hrs away, and my friend thought they would stop by my garden and "weed out" my black raspberries. Instead of removing weeds she accidentally pulled out all of my new black raspberry canes...!

My friend has not been too interested in gardening, but has recently caught the bug. I have pruned too heavy before and had bushes come back, but this was a complete gut and tear . Are my bushes in jeopardy? How do I share this with my friend without putting out her flame? My blackrapsberries are 2 years old. And the roots of the old cane, baring fruit now, still seem intact. Thank you for your help!


dirtcollar04

[AnnaIkona]

Welcome to the forum, first of all!

Did she pull your friend pull 'em out all the way? Or is there still some left? A bit more info please and an image would be nice as well.

If your friend sort of snipped it off and left a little bit and some roots, there is a possibility that it will survive.

[ButterflyLady29]

You would think the thorns would have put a damper on her weeding. If they were completely ripped out then they have no hope. As for how to tell her she destroyed your patch and still remain on friendly terms, that depends on how she takes the news. I wish you luck with the friend.

If you lived close to me I would let you come dig all the weeds, I mean black raspberries, you want.

[rainbowgardener]

How to tell her is hard, but she has to know what she did, so she can learn from her experience and to know why you are upset. Just try to be gentle and not go off on her. The whole idea of "weeding out" someone else's garden while they are away and without their explicit instructions seems pretty intrusive to me, even before all your new blackberry canes got ripped out.

If she pulled them out by the roots, then they are done for. But if the old canes are still growing, it should repopulate itself pretty quickly. I planted raspberries at my previous home and ended up regretting it and trying to rip them all out. They turned into a weed and were turning my yard into a raspberry thicket. Personally, I will never plant raspberries again! The birds got all the berries anyway.

[dirtcollar04]

Here are a couple of pictures. I realize you can't really see the ends well but there are small roots on the ends where they were ripped out of the ground. And yes, she pulled (ripped, thrashed, broke) the new canes out of the ground, you can see them in the pictures. Every. New. Cane.

Why go into someones garden anyway? Well, I found out she was picking the berries.... and thought she would weed to compensate for her berry picking. Needles to say, bad choice, bad decision.

The blackberry bushes I grow are thornless and the old canes, with the green berries, on them seem to be doing ok but the bushes are really loose in the ground....

Thank you all for your input! Ill just have to wait, one day at a time.

[rainbowgardener]

wow... given all that, I'm not sure she would stay my friend.... I hope she is VERY apologetic!

[ButterflyLady29]

Sorry but those are not going to survive. If she is a true and apologetic friend she will offer to buy you new plants and help replant the new ones.