Blackberry vine prunning
My first year blackberry prime canes were tipped (cut off) at 40 inches. Now many of the laterals have grown to 5 feet length or more and it is only mid-June. Do I wait until winter or early next spring to trim the laterals or do I trim them now and by how much?
I'd say don't prune now. The laterals you are growing now will produce berries next year. After those berries are picked, prune back to the trunk and the new laterals will bear the following yr. You can also tag the new laterals you want to keep or prune the following yr. by using ribbon or plastic ties on them.
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Gary350
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7427
- Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
- Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.
I have been growing blackberries for 30 years and I never prune the canes. They get very long sometimes 7 to 10 ft long. The long ones will grow up then curve around and hang down into the rest of the canes. 1st year there are no berries on the cane. 2nd year the canes produce berries. 3rd year the cane die.
Some people spend a lot of time cutting out the dead canes. That is good if you have very think leather gloves and can live through getting stabbed by all the thorns. What I do is let my blackberry patch grow for about 5 or 6 years it will fill up with a lot of dead canes. The plants send out runners and I let the runners start a new blackberry patch right next to the old patch. In 2 years the new patch will be making berries that is when I cut down the old patch. In about 5 or 6 years I let the runners start another patch again.
I have tried thinning out the dead canes my plants have some very large thorns so I gave it up.
Blackberries like full sun, hot weather and don't care about the soil. They don't seem to care if you fertilize them or water them they will not produce more or larger berries. They grow great in very poor soil, they will grow in soil that other plants will not grow in, and do fine.
If you have some long canes that are hanging out into the yard or garden and getting in your way just pull the end of that cane into the patch and snag it on some of the other canes. The thorns will hold tight to each other and it will hang in the patch out of your way.
Some people spend a lot of time cutting out the dead canes. That is good if you have very think leather gloves and can live through getting stabbed by all the thorns. What I do is let my blackberry patch grow for about 5 or 6 years it will fill up with a lot of dead canes. The plants send out runners and I let the runners start a new blackberry patch right next to the old patch. In 2 years the new patch will be making berries that is when I cut down the old patch. In about 5 or 6 years I let the runners start another patch again.
I have tried thinning out the dead canes my plants have some very large thorns so I gave it up.
Blackberries like full sun, hot weather and don't care about the soil. They don't seem to care if you fertilize them or water them they will not produce more or larger berries. They grow great in very poor soil, they will grow in soil that other plants will not grow in, and do fine.
If you have some long canes that are hanging out into the yard or garden and getting in your way just pull the end of that cane into the patch and snag it on some of the other canes. The thorns will hold tight to each other and it will hang in the patch out of your way.
We need to keep our blackberries within a footprint (rootprint?) approx. 6' wide, 10' deep, and along a fence for a few more feet on either side of the 60 sq.ft. basic area.
So we prune them religiously (blaspheming the whole time, usually) every winter. There's a dormant phase, usually between Christmas and mid-January, when the leaves are brown, the failed fruit is still on the canes, and new growth hasn't yet appeared. THAT is when we strike.
Every cane which bore fruit that season is cut off at ground level. The non-bearing canes (in their first year of growth) are "encouraged" back into the approved blackberry area. These canes will provide the next summer's fruit. By which time new canes, replacing the ones that were pruned out during the winter, will be trying to take over everything. If they become too exuberant, I cut them back, but never to the ground; I'll need them the next year!
Repeat the pruning process every year to restrain blackberry expansion. And, yes, chain-mail gloves with leather liners *might* be enough to spare your hands...
...but maybe not. 
But there's absolutely nothing as wonderful as a fresh peach in July or August, peeled and sliced, then topped with fresh blackberry sauce... Recipe for blackberry sauce: put the berries in the blender. Turn it on. Pour.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
So we prune them religiously (blaspheming the whole time, usually) every winter. There's a dormant phase, usually between Christmas and mid-January, when the leaves are brown, the failed fruit is still on the canes, and new growth hasn't yet appeared. THAT is when we strike.
Every cane which bore fruit that season is cut off at ground level. The non-bearing canes (in their first year of growth) are "encouraged" back into the approved blackberry area. These canes will provide the next summer's fruit. By which time new canes, replacing the ones that were pruned out during the winter, will be trying to take over everything. If they become too exuberant, I cut them back, but never to the ground; I'll need them the next year!
Repeat the pruning process every year to restrain blackberry expansion. And, yes, chain-mail gloves with leather liners *might* be enough to spare your hands...
...but maybe not. But there's absolutely nothing as wonderful as a fresh peach in July or August, peeled and sliced, then topped with fresh blackberry sauce... Recipe for blackberry sauce: put the berries in the blender. Turn it on. Pour.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9