Growing blackberries
Blackberries are among the easiest fruits to grow here in the South. They love the heat, don’t mind our soil, are extremely drought tolerant and are mostly disease and pest free. If not properly maintained however, the will quickly grow into an inaccessible mass that will swallow your yard. Here are a few guide lines to get the best out of your plants.
Blackberries will grow anywhere, but grow best in rich, well drained soil. Work plenty of compost into the soil when you plant them. They berry best in full sun but will fruit respectably as long as they get four hours or so.
Space the plants at least 3 feet apart, 6 feet if they are a trailing variety. You may wish to grow them on a fence or trellis, but this is not necessary with proper pruning. You can dedicate a part of your yard as a berry patch, but blackberry flowers and fruit are quite pretty and mix well into a perennial or shrub border.
While the plants are drought tolerant, the fruit is not. Without sufficient water while they are growing and ripening, the fruits will be small and bitter. Once the fruit appears, make sure the plants are watered deeply every three or four days, more often if it is very hot and your soil drains sharply.
Once planted, allow your new blackberries to grow unchecked until the new canes reach about 3 to 4 feet, then nip the top. This encourages side shoots, which should be left to grow as they please for the rest of the year.
Blackberry bushes should be pruned after the first year. Once established, blackberries are pruned to produce more fruit, to get rid of old canes and to keep the darn thing from swallowing your house. Plants will produce new canes every year. In the second year the canes produce flowers and berries. After that the canes are done.
Pruning blackberries is an ongoing process. In early spring cut the side shoots that grew in the previous season down to 12 to 18 inches. This will give you larger fruit. When new shoots emerge, pick three to six of the best ones and cut out the rest. To keep your plant from spreading where it is not wanted, cut down (or dig up and transplant) any shoots that come up more than 12 inches from the plant. Prune the new shoots when they reach 3 to 4 feet. After the last fruit has been harvested, cut out all the spent canes.
Blackberries are either upright or trailing. Wild blackberries are covered with some serious thorns, but most cultivated varieties nowadays are thornless. The following chart lists some of the varieties available.
| Variety | Cane Type | Season | Comments |
| Arapaho | Erect | Early | Thornless, medium size, somewhat irregular shape |
| Natchez | Erect | Early to mid | Thornless, elongate fruit |
| Apache | Erect | Mid | Thornless, medium-size, portions of the fruit may turn white during hot weather |
| Navaho | Erect | Late | Thornless, late, small berry but stores better than all other |
| Ouachita | Erect | Mid | Thornless, medium size, stores well |
| Hull | Semi-trailing | Mid to late | Thornless, soft, not quite as late as Chester |
| Chester | Semi-trailing | Late | Thornless, large fruit, good for processing |
| Triple Crown | Trailing | Late | Thornless, distinct sweet flavor, fruit does not store well |
North Carolina State University has great information on growing blackberries and other fruit at home. They can be found at www.ces.ncsu.edu
Epicurious has some tasty recipes for blackberries at www.epicurious.com
(Pat Brothers is a local gardener who works at Atlantic Avenue Orchid and Garden Center.)
