Planting blackberries: location & procedure

With blackberries, too, planting is the cornerstone of a successful harvest. We will show you what to consider when planting blackberries.

the blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) is a popular climbing shrub in home gardens. Even our ancestors from the early Stone Age knew about the culinary benefits of these sweet fruits. The wild blackberries, however, literally make the harvest a "doom" with their many spikes. Thanks to thornless breeds, however, the fruits invite you to nibble in many gardens from June to October.

The blackberry is relatively undemanding in cultivation. If you pay attention to a few aspects when planting, you can enjoy a healthy blackberry plant with plenty of fruit for a long time. We have summarized the most important points for you.

Buy blackberry plants or propagate them yourself

Planting wild blackberries in the garden should be well thought out, because the later distance is often only possible with great effort. Buying specially bred ones blackberry varieties tends to be the better option here, as the cultivars are far less self-replicating than their wild relatives. You can almost always buy blackberries in gardening stores with root balls, so they can be planted out practically all year round.

If there are already blackberry plants in the garden, you can plant them with relatively little effort propagate yourself via cuttings, sinkers or runners. There are now even excellent thornless varieties that make care and harvesting easier.

The right time to plant the blackberry

Blackberries are best planted in the fall from September to October, as the shrubs sprout in early spring. If you only want to plant in the spring, this should be done as early as possible, but no later than March or April.

The perfect location for planting blackberries

Once you have grown enough blackberry plants, you first have to find the right location. Fortunately, the blackberry makes only minor demands on the soil. In its natural environment, the blackberry grows on heavy, nutrient-rich soil. The pH of the soil should be around 5 and thus tend towards a slightly acidic environment. The blackberry also prefers a rather sunny and sheltered spot. Winter protection is recommended in cold winter areas (below -15 °C).

The correct procedure for planting blackberries

Blackberries are basically self-fertile. However, the fruit set is better if several shrubs of different varieties are planted next to each other and cross-pollination of the plants is thus possible. Different varieties also offer a variety of flavors and slightly staggered harvest dates.

In most cases, one or two bushes of a high-yielding variety are enough to cover the daily need for fresh blackberries over the summer months. In good harvest years, it should even be enough for a jar of jam or a bottle of syrup. In addition to the fruits, the leaves of the young shoots can also be collected from May to September. A wonderful tea can be prepared from it.

This is what you need to plant blackberries

The following materials are needed to plant a blackberry in the garden:

• bramble
• a spade
• A secateurs
• plant substrate
• A coconut mat
• A piece of string

Prepare planting hole for blackberry

Before the blackberry moves in, its new home should be well prepared. Once you have decided on a suitable location, it is time to dig the planting hole. This should be at least twice the volume of the plant's root ball. The bottom of the hole is then first loosened and then filled with a little fresh plant substrate and soil activator enriched. We recommend special soil for berry plants, our Plantura Organic tomato & vegetable soil has the optimal nutrient ratios for blackberries.

If you want to plant several blackberries, you should dig the planting holes at the right distance. Depending on the variety, this should be around 2 to 4 meters for climbing blackberry plants. The optimal planting distance for upright blackberry varieties, on the other hand, is only about 60 to 80 centimeters.

Prepare blackberries before planting

Before planting the plant, it is advisable to loosen up the root ball, which has spent a lot of time in the cramped pot. To do this, cut the roots with garden shears all the way around and then knead the ball a little loosely. This avoids spiral growth and also promotes the formation of new roots. If the root ball seems a little dry, you should soak it in a bucket of water before planting to soak it up.

Plant blackberries

The plant is now placed in the hole, then it is filled with soil and the surface is lightly stepped on. If you want, you can add some soil activator, for example the Plantura organic soil activator, add. Now the blackberry is watered vigorously and a coconut mat is placed around the trunk, which protects the young plant from weeds.

Attach climbing support for blackberries

Climbing varieties of blackberries depend on a support or trellis. So-called trellises are also suitable as holders for blackberry bushes - these are strong frames made of solid wires stretched between two posts at a distance of 20 to 30 centimeters will. The bottom wire should not be stretched more than half a meter above the ground so that the tendrils of the blackberry can quickly find a connection. It is best to tie the strongest shoots to the wires of the trellis at the beginning to give them the direction of growth. If you want to make it easier for yourself, you can pull the blackberry plants along a robust chain link fence, for example.

Can you plant blackberries and raspberries together?

There's no reason why raspberries (Rubus idaeus) and blackberries cannot be planted next to each other. Both plants belong to the rose family (Rosaceae) and prefer similar site conditions. As with the blackberry, most raspberry varieties grow better with a climbing aid. But what should be considered: The optimal planting distance for the climbing blackberry varieties is significantly larger than for raspberries.

Plant blackberries in pots

As already mentioned, blackberries do well on walls or free-standing scaffolding and are therefore mostly cultivated in the garden. Upright-growing blackberry varieties, such as 'Navaho' or 'Loch Ness', also thrive in planters on the balcony. Special plant boxes with an integrated wooden (wicker) wall also offer optimal climbing aids for creeping varieties. The blackberry can serve as a wonderful natural screen or windbreak for the terrace or balcony. However, the planter should definitely offer sufficient volume for the pot culture in order to do justice to the growth of the blackberry.

The following aspects should be considered when cultivating in pots:

• Choose a sufficiently large planter
• Put this in a sheltered place
• Water regularly and provide fertilizer
• Remove overripe and moldy fruit
• Cut back and top off long blackberry tendrils

Caring for blackberries properly after planting

The blackberry is fertilized in early spring (March) with a nutrient mixture suitable for berry bushes. To mimic the forest conditions of the blackberry's natural environment, the soil around the plant is covered with a layer of mulch. This not only protects against drying out, but also improves the humus supply and suppresses weed growth. Since the mulch layer gradually decomposes, it should be renewed regularly.

To keep the bramble bushes from getting out of control, annual pruning is best done in the fall or early spring. During the year, regular thinning and the removal of stinging shoots also promote fruit development.

Here you will find detailed instructions on how to Pruning the bramble bushes can proceed.