There was a time when I, a person far from botany, believed that blackberries grew exclusively in the forest. But when we bought the so-called country house With a large plot of land, my knowledge regarding blackberries has expanded significantly.

First of all, after purchasing the “dacha,” I had a problem: how to protect my property? The neighbors advised planting blackberries along the borders of the property - they grow quickly, reproduce well, and a fence of thorny bushes will stop even the most seasoned intruder.

By now, I am so keen on growing this plant that I have allocated a substantial piece of land for it, and I am growing several varieties of thornless blackberries on a trellis, getting a very substantial increase in my pension.

I’ll tell you how to plant blackberries correctly, so as to waste as little health as possible, and at the same time receive pleasure and income.

Blackberries are a healthy berry for humans; they contain vitamins, nutrients, various metals - everything that the body gratefully accepts. Such a fabulous berry should be taken seriously.

Amateur gardeners are big fans of chatting about plants - the yield of a particular variety of fruit bush, tree, methods of propagation, fertilizer, etc. But one of the most controversial issues is the timing of planting young plants. Everyone has their own view on this, and of course, their own compelling reasons. Let's consider both planting options, but we should immediately note that both seasons are good for planting, although they also have disadvantages.

Planting blackberries in spring

Need to know! Placing the seedling on permanent place in the spring it stimulates its rapid growth and development of the root system. In spring it is easier to control the condition of young bushes. However, the plant is more likely to be damaged by harmful insects, diseases, drought, of course, with improper care.

Blackberry is unpretentious plant, but still requires attention if the gardener wants to get the maximum benefit from the bush.

Proper spring planting of blackberries begins with choosing a location. The plant needs good lighting, with possible protection from the winds. Blackberries are “indifferent” to soils; they grow in almost any soil, as long as it is not waterlogged. Where blackberry bushes are planted, the groundwater horizon should not be closer to the soil surface than one to one and a half meters.

What should a seedling be like?

Decisive factor successful landing is the choice of planting material. Buying a blackberry seedling at a regular market is like buying a pig in a poke. It is better to visit a special nursery fruit plants, store or exhibition, order an interesting, new variety from the online store.

When purchasing, you need to carefully examine the root of the young plant; it must have at least three ten-centimeter shoots and a basal bud. The seedling should have 2-3 stems with fresh green leaves.

Need to know! A seedling with rotten areas on the roots and mechanical damage to the stem will most likely not take root, and even if it grows, it will take a long time to wait for a harvest from it. Various types of defects directly indicate that planting material long removed from the soil.

The seedling is checked for survival by carefully cutting the bark. If the stem is green under the bark, the plant is viable. Brown color indicates that blackberries are unsuitable for planting.

Blackberry Neighbors

When setting up a berry garden, it is advisable to avoid areas where vegetables previously grew. After them, a disease that is bad for shrubs may remain in the soil - late blight, which is very fond of young plants.

It’s good when there are trellises with raspberries nearby. Gardeners often practice growing these two crops in the same garden. Caring for raspberries and blackberries, growing and propagating techniques are very similar.

Landing distances

In the case when the blackberries are not tied to the trellis, the distance to neighboring shrubs and trees should be at least one and a half to two meters. At such a distance, the blackberry has room to grow, and the neighboring tree will not experience discomfort from branches climbing over it.

When grown on a trellis, the distance between seedlings should be within one meter, and between the rows - two and a half.

Pit, planting depth, fertilizers

To plant a seedling, prepare a hole measuring 40 x 40 cm and 40 cm deep. The hole is filled to half the depth with a mixture of fertilizers, which includes:

• The main ingredient is manure, 5-6 kg;
• Potassium fertilizer – 50-60 g;
• Phosphate fertilizer – 100-150 g.

Landing

When seedlings with an open root system are prepared for the berry garden, planting should be done as soon as possible, with the onset of warm weather. If the seedling is grown in a plastic cup or cut-off PET bottle, you can take your time with rooting.

The landing process looks like this:

• If the roots are opened, they are inspected, if necessary, damaged shoots are cut off, and the cut sites are disinfected. When the seedling is placed in a hole, the roots are straightened and carefully covered with soil removed from the hole;
• A seedling from a pot is simply placed in a hole and covered with earth. In this case, the plant is removed from the pot along with the planting soil, without shaking it off from the roots.

After any planting method, the soil near the seedling is mulched with the available material - sawdust, shavings, pine needles.

Need to know! For blackberry seedlings, after planting, it is necessary to regularly destroy weeds and loosen the soil around the trunks. Thus, the soil is saturated with oxygen, and moisture penetrates faster to the roots.

Planting blackberries in autumn

Gardeners who are just starting to grow blackberries are afraid to root the plants in place before winter. On the contrary, people with experience try to renew their berry garden at this time. In principle, both the first and second are right - each season has its own merits, and the period of spring or autumn is determined by objective reasons.

What is good about autumn planting?

Choosing the most effective landing blackberries do not differ in any special techniques from others garden plants. The benefits are as follows:

• Wide range of planting material. By autumn, nurseries are preparing large batches of seedlings of various varieties;
• Autumn rains saturate the soil well, and after planting, the blackberry seedling does not experience moisture deficiency and does not need watering;
• In winter, the roots of the seedling, although slowly, develop, and by spring they become strong, and with the onset of warm days, the bush actively grows, outpacing the seedlings spring planting;
• There is no need to worry about winter storage planting material.

Need to know! At autumn planting When growing blackberries, you need to take into account the climate. If in the southern regions planting can last until December 15, then in middle lane– from mid-October to mid-November.

For blackberries, one of the main factors for successful establishment is well-warmed soil. Autumn is more favorable in this aspect; in spring it is quite possible to miss the moment when the heat comes.

Site preparation for spring-planted blackberry seedlings can be done in the fall or early winter. For autumn planting, the site is prepared 2-3 weeks before the start of work.

All other aspects - the choice of seedling, planting location, the distances between plants are the same as for planting in the spring.

Blackberries planted in autumn must be reliably protected from winter cold.

Conclusion

I would like to note that even experienced summer residents, blackberry lovers are not immune from annoying mistakes, the most common are:

• Mistakes when choosing a seedling;
• Purchasing planting material from a dubious place and trusting unscrupulous sellers;
• Generous feeding of plants can cause their death.

What to do if this still happened and the seedlings were not accepted? Do not despair if a disaster affects you in the fall; prepare your own material for autumn planting. If trouble happens in the fall, you need to prepare for spring planting. Nothing terrible happened, and the gardener gains a wealth of experience and will not allow such incidents to happen again.

An amazing blackberry grows in the wild. Healing properties superior to raspberries, but they are not grown on a large scale in Russia. And on garden plot Blackberries are becoming increasingly popular. let's consider detailed description and instructions for proper care, cultivation, propagation and pruning of blackberry bushes at home, which will be useful for both experienced and novice gardeners.

Technology for growing blackberries at home in the country

Plantation selection

Growing blackberries at home

Blackberries react to spring frosts and low temperatures. The landing site should be chosen without access to cold winds. The best option maybe the western and southern parts of the house.

The soil

For breeding erect varieties light loams are suitable, and heavy loams are suitable for climbing species. The plant feels good in sandy soil. Temporary flooding has a detrimental effect on young shoots. To grow productive blackberry bushes in the country, it is undesirable to plant the crop on carbonate soils, since the plants will be deficient in iron and magnesium.

Predecessors

We must not forget about the previous culture. Favorable for blackberries personal plot are considered legumes, beets, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini.

Preparatory work

The site is prepared several years in advance for planting and left fallow. It is cleared of weeds and pathogens. Six months before planting, in the fall, add organic and mineral fertilizers to the soil. If the soil is saturated with nutrients, then organic matter can be excluded.

Planting in spring

First of all, you need to decide on the blackberry variety, paying attention to the climatic conditions of the place of growth: the Moscow region, Siberia or central Russia. Planting material must be selected with a developed root system, which is best purchased in nurseries. The seedling must have 2 stems and a developed bud near the roots.

The distance between blackberry seedlings depends on the shoot formation of the variety

Maintain a distance of 1 meter between planting materials and 2 meters in rows. This method is called tape and is suitable for varieties with high level formation of shoots.

For bush planting a 1.8x1.8 (m) scheme is used, 2 seedlings are planted in each hole and are acceptable for varieties with low shoot formation.

The planting material is lowered into the furrow and the roots are carefully straightened. Soil with fertilizer is poured on top, the root bud is covered up to 3 cm below the soil. The top layer of the bush is mulched, compacted and watered. Under each bush you need to pour from 3 to 6 liters of water. The last step is to trim the seedling to 20 cm and remove the fruiting stem.

Care

To grow a healthy blackberry bush, you don’t need special knowledge on caring for blackberries; it is enough to fulfill the following requirements:

1. Watering.
2. Weeding.
3. Feeding.
4. Annual pruning.
5. Formation of bushes.
6. Destroy pests.
7. Fight diseases in a timely manner.

Methods for propagating blackberries in the Moscow region, Siberia and central Russia

In the garden, blackberries are propagated vegetatively (by layering, suckers, cuttings). This crop can also be propagated by seed.. It is used to preserve varietal characteristics of a crop.

By layering

Scheme of blackberry propagation by horizontal layering

1. Prepare the groove, in the first ten days of August, 15 cm deep. Place a healthy one-year-old shoot in it and sprinkle with soil. In this case, do not cut the branch from the mother bush and leave the crown on the surface.
2. Cut the top of the shoot by 10 cm to stop growth.
3. Press down the digging area with a heavy object, for example, with a stone, brick or pinned with wire.
4. Mulch the soil and regularly water the digging area. Mulch (fallen leaves, sawdust) retains moisture and prevents weed growth.
5. Rooting will occur in 2 months. Shoots are cut off from the mother bush, are carefully dug out with a pitchfork, and planted in a permanent place along with a lump of earth.
6. This type of reproduction can be postponed to September or the first ten days of October.

Apical shoots

Propagation of garden blackberries by apical shoots

1. Tilt the top of the shoot and dig it into the ground. The tip is cut off.
2. For quick rooting in a stem that will be in the ground, cut the bark.
3. Separate the seedling from the bush and must be replanted in the spring.

Offspring

Propagation of garden blackberries by root suckers

1. Young shoots from the root or offspring have 3 year old bushes.
2. In spring, when persistent warm weather sets in (May, June), offspring are dug up with roots and a lump of earth. Stem height 10-15 cm.
3. Planting material selected from healthy and high-yielding bushes.
4. Plant the seedlings on a picking bed for growing. As soon as the bush reaches standard sizes, he is planted in a permanent place.
5. Offspring are possible replant in autumn(Aug. Sept). To do this, select the most developed shoots with a thickness of 8-10 cm and a root system of 15-20 cm.
6. Before boarding cut the branch to 30-40 cm.
7. Landing fill the pit with mineral fertilizers.

When planting in autumn, it is not advisable to use organic fertilizers(humus, compost). These are what insects feed on. winter time and rodents. By spring, the seedling may die.

Hybrids and large-fruited blackberries do not produce offspring. Therefore, this method of reproduction is unacceptable for them.

Cuttings

Root

1. Early spring or late autumn fruit-bearing bush is dug up by the roots.
2. Divided into pieces, leaving 60 cm of the root system. The cutting should have a thickness of 0.5-1.5 cm and a length of 10 cm.
3. The petiole is planted in a permanent place, or on a picking bed, and after a year use it as planting material.
4. The beds are being prepared and with a step between cuttings of 20 cm, rows - 80, planting material is planted and watered regularly until complete rooting.
5. Weeding is carried out in summer from weeds and loosening the soil.
6. By autumn the cuttings will have several shoots and a developed root system.
7. Cuttings can be stored in a cool place in winter. The twigs are placed in wet sand. In spring, transplantation into open ground is needed.

Blackberry varieties without thorns are not propagated in this way. Otherwise the plant will grow with thorns.

Green cuttings

1. In July, a branch is cut off from a green shoot a third of it from the top.
2. The cutting must consist of a stem, buds and one leaf.
3. Process the twig rooting stimulator, for example, root or zirconium.
4. Then, prepare cups of soil(peat and vermiculite in equal parts, expanded clay) and plant the cuttings.
5. Cover containers plastic bag.
6. Root system formed within one month.
7. The plant is planted to a permanent place.
8. Reproduction can be combined with pruning shoots.
9. The most suitable varieties: Black Satin, Thornless Logan.

Seeds

You can grow a full-fledged seedling from blackberry seeds

1. Prepare light soil, wet sand or peat chips.
2. Soak the seeds for 3 hours to swell in water. Then drain the excess liquid and place in a damp cloth for 3 days.
3. Swollen seed grains cover with prepared substrate to 8 mm.
4. Compact the soil and water.
5. Place containers in a cool place with a temperature of 5 degrees C for 2 months.
6. During this time monitor soil moisture. It should not be wet or dry.
7. Further, bring containers into warm room(20 degrees C) for germination.
8. Presence of three leaves on seedlings they serve as a signal for picking.

Why is autumn pruning necessary?

Blackberry bushes bear fruit only once. If the first year is spent fully growing it to woody stems, then in the second year of life it blooms and bears fruit. This ends its fruiting cycle. Therefore, you should get rid of two-year-old specimens and form the bush correctly. Because:

• young shoots they won't get enough nutrients from the ground, and waste money on old copies;
• young shoots do not ripen, the berries become smaller;
• thickening of the planting occurs. There is no access to sunlight in the middle of the bush. This reduces frost resistance. Harvesting becomes more difficult. The berries lose their sugar content.

Young specimens should also be pruned to encourage flowering for the next season. Pruning in the fall helps strengthen the bush, normalizes the load on it, improves ripening.

How to properly prune blackberries and form a bush in the fall

Algorithm of actions:

• Once the harvest is harvested, the plantation should be inspected and start pruning two-year-old blackberry bushes, to form a strong bush. Stumps must be removed. This will make it possible to avoid purulent processes during hibernation;
• young specimens with thin and short stems are removed, that is, unformed and unripe bushes;
• branches are destroyed damaged by diseases and pests;
• remaining young animals are shortened by a quarter. Make the cut above the bud;
• for uniform load on the bush, 6-8 shoots should be left. Considering that the plant will overwinter, it is possible that they will freeze, we leave two more shoots than 8-10, and inspect the plant in the spring. So that the berries are large and there is good harvest 5-6 live shoots are needed. Frozen branches are removed.

Do not leave extra plants, even if they are healthy. Excessive density harms the future harvest.

Formation of an erect bush

Scheme of formation of an erect blackberry bush

1. A trellis 1.8 m long is being prepared. with wire in several rows. The step between them is 30-50 cm.
2. Young shoots of the bush are tied to the bottom row and are evenly distributed from the center of the plant, parallel to the ground.
3. Fruit bearing branches are placed in the center.
4. In autumn, after harvesting, the central part is cut to the root, and the young animals are trimmed and covered for the winter.

Formation of a bush of creeping varieties

Scheme of formation of a blackberry bush of creeping varieties

1. Creeping varieties have long shoots. The use of trellises allows you to increase the yield, since the branches remain at their maximum length. Along the trellis they are placed fan-shaped in different directions from the fruiting stems on the three lower wires.
2. in spring, stems are trimmed to 1.5 meters.
3. During growing season new shoots appear, they are also tied to the wire horizontally in both directions in the form of a fan. Only next year they will bear fruit. This method makes periodic pruning and harvesting easier.
4. You can place branches on the wire in both directions without central fastening. Fruiting stems in one direction, young shoots in the other. Every year the berry picking will alternate from left to right.

Conclusion

Selected location and proper care for blackberries: fertilizing, watering, pruning, processing will allow you to get high yields and delight your family with medicinal berries.

Everyone knows blackberries as wild berries, which are very inconvenient to pick due to the fact that they grow in dense thorny thickets. But breeders have long ago turned blackberries into a thornless plant with large, sweet fruits. In some countries, hybrid garden large-fruited blackberries are grown on an industrial scale, but in our country few people know about them and even fewer gardeners grow them.

This article will fill the gap in knowledge and perhaps, after reading it, you will want to plant this interesting and useful plant in your garden.

Planting blackberries

Modern garden blackberry is a vine with a perennial rhizome. It is resistant to pests and diseases, bears fruit consistently and has no thorns. The berries ripen in August and are very large. They are more sour than raspberries, but richer in vitamin C. If blackberries are given support, they can climb to a height of 2 m, densely braiding everything around them, so they can be successfully used for vertical gardening.

There are upright varieties of blackberries, but they do not have the frost resistance necessary for our climate.

Blackberry garden planting begins in the spring, when the earth warms up. In the middle zone this happens at the end of April. Planting blackberries in the spring allows the plant to take root well and prepare for winter.

Planting blackberries in the fall is fraught with its death, since the plant does not have time to take root. It must be remembered that garden strawberries, unlike its wild forest relative, is a southern plant and requires a special approach in terms of wintering. If the seedlings are purchased in the fall, they are placed in a trench until spring.

For planting, select a sunny place, protected from the winds. Blackberries are pollinated by insects, and wind can interfere with pollination and damage the leaves. The ideal place for a blackberry plantation would be a southwestern slope, protected from eastern and northern winds.

The culture feels good on drained loamy and sandy loam soil. If there is a lot of calcium in the soil (outwardly this is expressed in the fact that the soil has a granular structure), then the blackberries will have to be fed annually with iron and magnesium. The optimal acidity of the soil solution is 6.

In the fall, the area for blackberries is cleared of weeds and dug up, adding 10 kilograms of humus or compost per m2. In the spring, when planting, add a tablespoon of superphosphate to the holes.

Planting thornless blackberries is no different from planting ordinary ones, but it is better to buy planting material from nurseries with a good reputation, since there is a high risk of purchasing ordinary blackberries rather than a modern large-fruited variety.

Thornless blackberries cannot be propagated by roots, as thorns will appear on the seedlings. It is propagated by green cuttings cut from young shoots.

The seedling must have a strong root system and formed buds on the rhizome. Aboveground part should consist of 1-2 stems with a thickness of at least 5 mm.

The size of the hole for blackberries depends on the age and size of the seedling. If blackberries are used not for vertical gardening, but as a berry crop, then they are planted at a distance of at least 1 m from buildings and other plantings, given that the plant grows quickly.

Planting blackberries can be:

• tape;
• bush.

With the bush method, 2-3 seedlings are planted in a hole, and the holes themselves are placed in the corners of a square with a side of 2 m. The tape method is suitable for growing vigorously growing varieties. The distance between the tapes should be at least 2 m; seedlings are planted in furrows with an interval of 1 m.

Blackberries quickly begin to bear fruit. By following these rules for planting blackberries, within a year you can become the owner of a fruit-bearing plantation and collect tasty and healthy berries.

Features of caring for blackberries

Now you know how to plant blackberries, and if you get hold of seedlings, you can plant them correctly. If garden blackberries are already planted in the garden, grow and care for them in terms of watering and fertilizing in the same way as raspberries. In all other respects, the agricultural technology of this berry differs sharply from what gardeners in temperate climates are accustomed to.

Soil care for garden blackberries

A good harvest of berries cannot be achieved without careful soil care. In the first year after planting, vegetables can be grown between the rows, but in subsequent years the soil between the strips and in the rows is kept as a black fallow. Weeds are removed, the soil is loosened after each moistening to a depth of 10 cm.

To make soil care easier, you can mulch it with straw, sawdust or leaf litter. Mulch thicker than five centimeters will prevent weeds from germinating, retain moisture and protect the soil from crusting.

Blackberry pruning

It is enough to plant blackberries or raspberries once and you don’t have to worry about their reproduction. But if raspberries reproduce by horse shoots, then the tips of the shoots of blackberries take root, and they do this on their own as soon as they touch the soil. Therefore, without gartering and shaping, blackberries quickly turn into impenetrable thickets.

You can theoretically know a lot about growing blackberries, but pruning perennial vines This is always a “dark forest” for beginning gardeners. But blackberries are not raspberries, and without pruning they are berry culture will quickly turn into dense thickets, suitable only for landscaping a gazebo.

How to prune hybrid garden blackberries? Pruning of lashes is carried out three times per season: in spring, summer and autumn. During each pruning, different purposes are pursued.

Pruning blackberries in the spring is done to free the bushes from shoots that have frozen over the winter. This is the so-called " sanitary pruning", which all perennial plants need in the spring.

In spring, cut out all dry and broken branches. Completely frozen stems that did not survive the winter are cut out at soil level. Frostbitten tops are trimmed to a healthy place with green cambium on the cut.

In May, the tops of the current year's shoots are removed to speed up branching.

Pruning blackberries in summer is necessary to stimulate the formation of fruit buds on the side shoots, where the bulk of the crop is formed. In June, bushes of the first year of life and annual growth on old plantings are pruned. The tops of side shoots that have reached a length of 50 cm are pinched, and all weak side shoots are removed.

Pruning blackberries if their shoots will bear fruit this year is done differently. The purpose of such pruning is to preserve overwintered branches as much as possible and prevent young growth from weakening the plant. To do this, the emerging shoots are removed all summer, leaving only the first shoots that grew in May - they will be the strongest, will overwinter well and produce a large harvest.

In the fall, fruit-bearing stems are cut out at the root, since there will be no berries on them next year. Only shoots that have grown this season are sent for wintering, cutting them to a height of 200 cm.

It can be seen that blackberries require care, and pruning them is not an easy task. But this culture has two important advantages: when proper agricultural technology she is capable of giving excellent harvests and is not damaged by pests.

In summer cottages you can find a variety of bushes that bear fruit with berries. Most often you can see raspberry bushes, but for some reason summer residents do not particularly like its fellow blackberry. This plant is not inferior to raspberries in taste, beauty or even difficulty of care. Blackberries are great for canning, making jam, or simply eating.

Blackberry bushes are different small size compared to raspberries, and also presence of thorns in small quantities, but this still complicates harvesting. In all other respects, this plant is completely identical to raspberries in care and pruning. It is worth noting that blackberries have one peculiarity. It can bear fruit even during periods of drought or if the bushes are completely left without attention and care, but the amount of harvest will decrease. Berries ripen in different areas, regardless of the amount of sunlight. The berries can be considered ripe as soon as they turn black.

Planting blackberries

Although blackberry bushes do not require strict care, a lot of moisture and sunlight, these factors can still help increase the fruiting of the bushes. For example, when planting a plant, you need to calculate the place so that the blackberry ends up was protected from blowing. This, in turn, will not only increase the quantity of the harvest and its quality, but will also help the bushes in winter not to simply die at low temperatures. In areas where there is no wind, snow will not fall from the bushes, which means they will be covered with snow all winter.

In addition, blackberries, like any other plant, must be pollinated, and in strong winds the bees cannot fly up and do their work. Gusts of wind can even break fragile blackberry branches, especially after winter period when the plant has not yet reached its full strength.

As mentioned above, when planting blackberries, you can not attach importance to the amount of sunlight. Fruiting occurs equally well both in a dark place and in an open area, but planting in complete darkness cannot be done. If sunlight stops reaching the plant, over time the berries will become smaller, and this will negatively affect the quality and taste of the crop.

Planting blackberries in the garden plot is best produce in spring. In the southern parts of the country I also practice planting in the autumn, but still the best results are achieved with bushes that were planted in the spring. In this case, the cuttings take root better, and there is also no chance of plant death when the cold period sets in.

Soil is precisely the element that does not play any role in growing blackberries. Usually planting is done near the fence, in order not only to increase the convenience of harvesting, but also to further improve this part of the garden plot, hiding the fence.

Step-by-step procedure for planting blackberries

The entire procedure for planting blackberry bushes can be divided into several stages in order to subsequently achieve high results during plant establishment.

Best for growing in the garden Thornless blackberries are suitable. Of the most popular varieties the following can be distinguished:

• agavem;
• abundant;
• Darrow.

These varieties are great for courting summer cottage. Lack of thorn c simplifies harvesting, and if the plant is no longer cared for, it will not grow as much as other varieties of blackberries.

Although blackberries can grow on their own, the first year is the hardest for them. At this time, all necessary measures must be taken to ensure that the plant takes root in its new location. This includes all basic care, pruning and watering activities. The entire growing procedure must be followed especially carefully in the first year, and then after the bushes have grown, some stages of the procedure may not be used.

First of all you need pay enough attention to watering. In the first year, it simply doesn’t make sense to expect a harvest, but you shouldn’t refuse to water your blackberries, because it’s precisely at this time that the crown and the strength of the root branches are formed. Eventually proper watering in the first year can significantly increase yields in subsequent years. Massive roots ultimately help the plant feel comfortable in dry weather. Raspberries cannot boast of such quality.

Watering at the initial stages of growth of berry bushes should be plentiful, but still do not overdo it. It is necessary to increase the amount of moisture as the blackberries germinate and as the crop begins to ripen. In addition, moisture should flow freely to the root system, so before this procedure it is better to first loosen the bud. Blackberry bushes do not really like it when the soil is compacted too much. In addition, with dense soil layers, moisture simply does not reach the root system, but disperses in different directions from the bush. Application of fertilizers before watering is carried out exclusively in the first year after planting, and then in summer time You can do without feeding the plant.

To increase the growth activity of blackberries, fertilizers may be needed only in the spring season. Apply fertilizer needed once. To do this, it is best to use components such as:

• mullein;
• ash;
• peat;
• humus;
• bird droppings.

As additional fertilizers phosphorus, nitrogen and potash fertilizers, but there is no particular need for them. Shrubs do not require large quantities minerals, and they receive all the main components exclusively from the composition of the soil.

Basic stages of blackberry pruning

Blackberry pruning is important stage, which ultimately determines how strongly and evenly the shrub will grow, and from these conditions the amount of harvest and convenience of picking berries. If you do not prune, you can end up with an impenetrable jungle at your dacha. In order to avoid such problems, you need to trim the stems about 3-4 times per period. active growth. Pruning needs to be done very often, because blackberry branches grow quickly. If you don’t want to spend too much time on pruning, then it is best to plant thornless shrubs.

The first pruning begins after the end of winter, as soon as the temperature exceeds the limits of the beginning of the growing season. This time can be determined by the presence of buds that are just appearing on the stems of plants. You need to trim off any stems that have been damaged during the winter or have dried out. Usually for one square meter, leave no more than 15 shoots or 8 shoots on one of the bushes. During the rest of the year, new shoots need to be pruned so that they do not weaken the plant.

Repeated pruning of shoots called pinching. It is produced at a time when the shoots have already grown. Usually each of them needs to be shortened by no more than 15 cm, but if there is no time for ongoing care behind the bushes, you can remove even 20 cm of shoots. This pruning is especially important for summer residents who want to significantly increase the amount of harvest on blackberry bushes. Pinching promotes the formation of new branches, which in the future will produce an additional harvest of berries. When pruning shoots, you need to leave only the strongest ones, and cut off all weak branches so that they do not take all the strength from the bush.

The last pruning is carried out in the autumn before the onset of winter. All weak and dry shoots are removed. Particular attention should be paid to branches that show signs of disease. On the contrary, it is better to leave the shoots before the start of winter because due to them, in the spring you can see a formed and strong crown.

Blackberry propagation

The question of how to care for blackberries is not too difficult to understand, unlike the propagation of this shrub. Exists a large number of propagation methods using seeds, seedlings or techniques that in the initial stages do not even require trimming the blackberry stem. The most popular way to propagate blackberries among gardeners is planting a sprouting stem. This method can help propagate blackberries from just one bush.

To propagate blackberries, you will need a stem about 3 meters long from a neighboring bush. A hole 30 centimeters deep is dug and sprinkled with humus. The end of the stem is placed in the hole in a semicircle or in a full circle and sprinkled with a little earth. Immediately after this, you need to make the first watering and wait until the water is absorbed into the ground. The remaining layer of soil completely covers the hole.

With this propagation method, it is important that the stem is buried at the beginning of August, and at the end autumn period it can be cut off from a neighboring bush. The length of the seedling should be no more than one meter above the ground surface. This is the easiest method of propagation, which requires a minimum amount of effort and does not require the purchase of additional seedlings.

Conclusion

Blackberries, along with raspberries, are considered the most delicious berries. Any summer resident, even those without much experience, can grow it; the main thing is to follow the basic recommendations. The main advantages of this variety berry bushes, This minimum requirement in care, greater productivity, and also a way to improve the aesthetic appearance of the landscape in the garden plot.

Growing blackberries

Blackberries are similar in many ways to their close relative, raspberries. But in our country it is not popular. This berry grows mostly in nature; only a few gardeners specially breed it. But recently, blackberries have begun to win more and more fans.

Choosing a place to plant blackberries

Blackberries react to spring frosts and low temperatures. The landing site should be chosen without access to cold winds. The best option may be the western and southern parts of the house. Light loams are suitable for growing upright varieties, and heavy loams are suitable for climbing varieties. The plant feels good in sandy soil. Temporary flooding has a detrimental effect on young shoots. To grow productive blackberry bushes in the country, it is undesirable to plant the crop on carbonate soils, since the plants will be deficient in iron and magnesium.

We must not forget about the previous culture. Legumes, beets, carrots, cucumbers, and zucchini are considered favorable for blackberries in the garden. The site is prepared several years in advance for planting and left fallow. It is cleared of weeds and pathogens. Six months before planting, in the fall, add organic and mineral fertilizers to the soil. If the soil is saturated with nutrients, then organic matter can be excluded.

Planting blackberries

The entire procedure for planting blackberry bushes can be divided into several stages in order to subsequently achieve good results during the establishment of plants.

1. Before you start planting the plant, you need to clear the cuttings of dry crust and place them in water for one night.
2. In the garden plot, you first need to prepare a place for planting blackberry bushes. There should be holes optimal size, but that's not the main thing. Basically you need to look at the distance between the holes. During growth, the bushes can grow to colossal sizes, so you need to leave a distance between the holes, which will be about 80 cm. This distance is necessary so that the blackberry bushes do not intertwine and interfere with each other. In addition, the passage between plants will make harvesting easier.
3. It is best to fertilize the soil before planting. The selection of fertilizers is more of a symbolic nature, so you can use ordinary humus and potassium fertilizer. The humus is mixed in equal proportions with the soil and introduced into the hole before planting the bushes. Next you need to add potash fertilizers in the amount of 40 grams. Good feeding can guarantee the rapid establishment of shrubs in a new location.
4. After fertilizing the soil, you can place the cuttings in a hole and bury them with the remaining part of the soil, which was previously mixed with humus. The soil around the bush is compacted, but it will be possible to water only after a few days.

Thornless blackberries are best suited for growing in the garden. The most popular varieties include agave, abundant, and darrow. These varieties are great for courting in a summer cottage. The absence of thorns makes harvesting easier, and if the plant is no longer cared for, it will not grow as much as other blackberry varieties.

Features of caring for blackberries

Now you know how to plant blackberries, and if you get hold of seedlings, you can plant them correctly. If garden blackberries are already planted in the garden, grow and care for them in terms of watering and fertilizing in the same way as raspberries. In all other respects, the agricultural technology of this berry differs sharply from what gardeners in temperate climates are accustomed to.

In fact, blackberries are the same as raspberries, only growing more aggressively. For this reason, if blackberries are already growing in some corner of the garden, it is absolutely forbidden to plant raspberries nearby. Firstly, these crops have common diseases, and secondly, blackberries will simply “strangle” the raspberries underground with their roots, preventing them from growing, even if there is a small distance between the plants on the soil surface.

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If you like the thornless blackberry, planting and caring for it will require knowledge and some experience. Growing this crop cannot be called easy. Those gardeners who have experience in growing grapes will be best able to “handle” garden hybrid blackberries, since the agricultural technology of these crops is similar.

The vines of the hybrid thornless blackberry grow by leaps and bounds and the problem quickly arises of where to place them. Blackberries, like raspberries, bear fruit on two-year-old shoots. Therefore, it is most reasonable to install trellises on both sides of the row and wrap fruit-bearing branches on one side, and only young ones growing this year on the other.

The trellises must be installed thoroughly, since the vine, along with its side shoots, will grow to impressive sizes. And when the crop begins to ripen on it, its mass will increase many times over. Every two meters of the row, strong supports with a height of 180-200 cm are dug in, between which galvanized wire is pulled at a height of 50, 100 and 170 cm.

In preparation for wintering, the lashes are removed from the trellis, wound into a ring and laid on the ground. They are pressed down on top with a board and covered with non-woven material.

Caring for blackberries in the spring involves taking out the vines from under the shelters and throwing them on the trellis. The vines should still have living green leaves. It is on these overwintered shoots in this year berries will appear.

Hybrid garden blackberries produce a yield per unit area that is 5 times higher than raspberries.

During the summer, when the plant blooms and the harvest ripens, the crop needs watering, weeding and fertilizing. The plant quickly develops a gigantic vegetative mass and removes many nutrients from the soil that must be replaced.

When blackberries have just been planted on the site, caring for the young plantings in the spring consists only of abundant watering. Fruiting bushes are fed with urea in the spring. A tablespoon of fertilizer is dissolved in a bucket of water and a bucket of this solution is poured into each hole.

Cold well water should not be used for irrigation and preparation of fertilizer solutions. It is best to install a container on the site to collect precipitation or heat well water in the sun.

Blackberry pruning

Pruning blackberries is a troublesome task, but it must be done regularly. Blackberry bushes are treated with pruning shears in spring, summer, and autumn. Blackberries are divided into upright ones, which are called brambles, and creeping ones, called dewberries. Cumanica shoots reach a height of three meters or even more; it forms many replacement shoots, like raspberries; straight blackberries bear fruit on two-year-old shoots. Most varieties of dewberry do not produce root shoots; their shoots look like whips with a large number of fruit branches. In the spring, before the buds awaken, dry and broken stems from blackberries, as well as frozen shoot tips, are cut off to the first healthy bud. Bushes of the first year of growth are subjected to double pruning: to stimulate the growth of side shoots, in May the tops of the branches are shortened by 5-7 cm, and in July the tops of those side shoots that have reached half a meter in length are pruned by 7-10 cm, in addition, only 6-8 of the strongest, and the rest are subject to removal. In mature bushes, in addition to frozen and broken branches, all weak shoots are removed in the spring, leaving only 4-10 strong branches on the bush, the side branches are shortened to 20-40 cm so that 8-12 buds remain on them. During the growing season, remove root shoots that appear in the summer, leaving only those that have grown in the spring - they will bear fruit next year. These spring shoots in the fall need to be pruned at a height of 1.7-2 m. In addition, remove all weak branches and, most importantly, cut out all shoots of the second year at the root immediately after they have stopped bearing fruit - they will no longer produce berries, so in vain The plant does not need to waste food and energy on them.

Blackberry propagation

The process of propagation of blackberries is carried out in three ways - by seeds, by dividing the bush and vegetatively. Almost all blackberry varieties retain the properties of their parent bushes. We must stratify the seeds, soak them in melt or rainwater for several hours and sow them in a greenhouse. We plant seedlings in open ground when 4 leaves form. Reproduction by apical layering is also possible. The method involves burying the tip of the shoot into the groove. This method is very simple. The cuttings take root within a month. It is better to replant it next year in the spring. Propagation by cuttings is as follows. We dig up two- or three-year-old roots, cut them into 6-8 cm cuttings. In winter, we store the planting material in damp sand in the basement. We plant in early spring in grooves 20 cm deep. Reproduction is also possible by green cuttings. Towards mid-summer, we cut off the cuttings with buds, treat them with indolylbutyric acid, and then plant them in small cups with soil. By dividing a bush, blackberries reproduce by dividing the bushes into parts, trying to leave several strong shoots on each unit.

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Blackberry diseases

For abundant fruiting, it is important to monitor the standing of the bushes. Be sure to regularly inspect the branches for disease. Most often, blackberries are infected with anthracnose. This disease infects blackberry fruits. It is manifested by uneven and slow development of the berries. It can be detected already at the end of spring.

Leaves and young stems are affected by rust. This disease manifests itself externally brown spots on the plant and reduces the yield of the bush by more than half.

Autumn planting of blackberries should be done before the onset of frost. Many people have a question: how to plant blackberries correctly? There will be no difficulties when planting strawberries, but where exactly you need to plant blackberries on your plot, you need to think about it in advance so that later it will give you a good harvest.

How to plant blackberries correctly in the fall?

When choosing a place to plant blackberries, remember that this crop has poor winter hardiness. Blackberries love well-heated, illuminated and protected from the wind areas. This berry garden will give a very good harvest if the planting area is well fertilized and the soil does not become waterlogged. Under no circumstances should blackberries be planted on carbonate soils, because due to a lack of magnesium and iron, the plants are affected.

Landing rules

The correct landing sequence is:

1. The area that you have chosen for planting blackberries must be completely cleared of weeds. Pour compost or humus into the holes, the width of which should be approximately 35 centimeters, and mix it with the soil. Then the seedling is placed in a hole so that its roots are spread out in different directions.
2. When filling with soil, you need to periodically compact it from the edge to the center of the bush. Please note: the top bud of the planted bush, which is located at the base of the stem, should be no less than 2 cm above the ground. If you want to plant blackberries with cuttings, then you need to place the cuttings in a furrow and cover them with soil, the layer of which should be approximately 7 -8 cm.
3. After planting, be sure to water and mulch with whatever you have on hand. The distance between upright bushes should be 1 m in a row and at least 2 m between rows. And varieties that creep should be planted at a distance of 3-3.5 m

If you plant blackberries correctly, they will definitely reward you with a good harvest.

Blackberry – worthy alternative garden raspberries. Blackberries are rich in chemical composition, are very beneficial for human health, and provide an opportunity to diversify culinary preparations. With proper care, this magnificent shrub can bear fruit abundantly for about 10 years. The benefits and fruit yield potential are high, but blackberries are not often cultivated in our gardens.

Previously, they were grown from southern species: they had low frost resistance, did not take root well, and often died. At the moment, varieties have been bred that can withstand temperatures down to -30 °C. Unfortunately, in northern regions The cultivation of blackberries is slightly limited, since the final fruiting period occurs at the beginning of frost - not all fruits have time to ripen.

The fruits ripen unevenly throughout the month. They can be easily transported: the berries are quite elastic, do not crush, and have a long shelf life at low air temperatures.

The roots and leaves can also be beneficial as a bactericidal and sedative.

When to plant blackberries

in autumn

In the conditions of the Moscow region and Leningrad region, the middle zone and southern regions, planting in the fall is preferable. When planting in spring, rooting is not so active: warming comes too quickly, active sap flow begins, shoots grow, and the still weak root system is not able to provide sufficient nutrition.

In autumn, plant bushes 20-30 days before frost. Subsequent cool temperatures and high humidity promote rooting. In spring the plant will begin to develop properly.

in spring

Plant varieties with poor winter hardiness in the spring, in April-May. In the northern regions (Ural, Siberia) also start planting in spring. Do this until the buds open and the air temperature does not exceed 15 °C.

Choose quality ones. Annual shoots with two stems, the diameter of which should be at least 0.5 cm, take root best. The optimal length of the tap root is considered to be 10 cm. The roots must have living buds of growth.

Note: in autumn there is a wider selection of seedlings and their prices are lower than in spring.

Planting blackberry seedlings in open ground

Selecting a location

• Choose a well-lit area, protected from the winds - the key to abundant fruiting. In the shade, the shoots will stretch, the fruits will become smaller, will not ripen well, and will lose their taste.
• Avoid close proximity to groundwater. They should not extend higher than 1.5 m, otherwise the root system will be constantly damp and cold. This affects yield and winter hardiness.
• A suitable option would be to place it along the fence. Step back 1 m from the fence. The most favorable location is on the south or southwest side.

Priming

Success requires well-drained, breathable soil. Loamy soils with a fertile layer of at least 25 cm are suitable. Sandy, rocky or marshy areas are strictly not suitable.

Preparation of the trellis

Installing a trellis for blackberries photo

Be sure to install vertical supports for the trellis at a distance of 3 m from each other and stretch the wire for two tiers of the garter: at a height of 0.5-0.6 m and 1-1.5 m.

Site preparation

Dig up the area, remove weeds, spray with special preparations to prevent diseases and pests. Be sure to enrich the depleted soil with organic matter and complex mineral fertilizers - 1 bucket of humus per square meter of area or half a bucket of humus for each bush. Mineral fertilizers Use according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Preparing planting holes

• Prepare planting holes 15-20 days before planting. The root system of the plant is powerful and penetrates deeply. Stick to the hole parameters of 40x40x40 cm.
• Apply fertilizers: 5 kg of humus or compost, 120 g of superphosphate, 40 g of potassium sulfate. Mix all components with fertile soil and fill planting pits by 2/3.

How to plant

How to plant blackberries Planting blackberry seedlings photo

• Spread the roots, place the seedling horizontally, cover it with soil, but leave 1-2 cm to the top of the hole to ensure quality watering in the future.
• Deepen the root collar by 1.5-2 cm, if the soil is light sandy loam - up to 3 cm.
• Slightly compact the soil surface, add 5-6 liters of water under each plant.
• When planting in spring, water regularly for 40-50 days.
• Mulch the tree trunk circle with straw or sawdust.
• Mulching with a layer of peat or humus (about 15 cm thick) will not only protect against the appearance of crust, but will also become a source of nutrients.

Distance between bushes and rows of blackberries when planting

• Place varieties with erect stems at a distance of 1 m from each other
• With creeping – 1.5 m
• The distance between rows should be 2 m.

Planting blackberries with cuttings on video:

Caring for blackberries on the site

Blackberries are more drought-resistant than raspberries, but their frost resistance is lower.

Watering

During the period of berry filling and during severe drought. Apply 15-20 liters of water under each bush weekly. The rest of the time, water occasionally, not allowing the soil to dry out too much.

Loosening the soil

Loosen the soil several times during the season, going deeper by about 10 cm. It is important to carry out loosening at the end of August or September - the looser the soil, the less it will freeze. At the same time, remove weeds.

How to trim blackberries

• It is necessary to plant blackberries to obtain maximum yields and large berries. In addition, pruning maintains the compact shape of the bush, making it easier to pick berries, and prevents depletion of the bush.
• The shrub has a two-year development cycle: in the first year, the stems develop, forming fruit buds, and bear fruit in the next season. Biennial shoots that bear fruit should be cut off at the root in the fall, leaving only the young shoots of this year.
• In the first year of growth, remove the inflorescences.
• In the second year after planting, it is necessary to shorten the stems, leaving their length 1.5-1.8 cm. Do this in the spring before the buds open; the cut should pass above the last bud.
• After each wintering, prune frozen areas to the first living bud.

In summer (early June) shrubs follow. Cut off all the young shoots, leaving 4-5 strong shoots for upright varieties, and 6-8 for creeping varieties. Pinch the tops of the shoots (cut them off by 5-8 cm).

Pruning blackberries in spring on video:

Blackberry pruning in autumn on video:

How to tie blackberries

Between the creeping shrubs, place a trellis with 1-2 rows of wire, placing the bottom at a height of 0.5-0.6 m and the top at a height of 1-1.5 m. In the first year of development, fan-shaped tie 2-3 shoots to the bottom wires. Direct several annual shoots to the center of the bush and tie them to the top row of wire.

In autumn, shoots are removed from their support to provide shelter for the winter.

With upright shoots, they are also tied to a trellis, making a slight slope to one side. New runs that grow during the season should also be tied up, but with a bias in the opposite direction.

During fruiting, light shading from direct sunlight will be required. A special mesh should be stretched along the rows.

The video will tell you how to form blackberries on a trellis:

The plant needs feeding.

To stimulate the growth of new shoots, apply nitrogen fertilizers. One plant will need 50 g ammonium nitrate, the granules of which should be embedded to a depth of 10-15 cm. To prevent diseases, treat with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture.

Every 3-4 years a complex of fertilizers should be applied. Do this after harvest. For each m² you will need: 10 kg of humus or compost, 100 g of superphosphate, 30 g of potassium sulfate.

Blackberry shelter for the winter

Build a shelter before the first cold weather sets in (before the air temperature drops to -1 °C), since the most dangerous time for the plant is the snowless beginning of winter. Do not cover with fallen leaves fruit trees, they can hide microorganisms that become active with the onset of spring.

Bend the stems to the ground, collect them in bunches, and secure with staples. Gardeners recommend tying weights to the tops of the shoots at the end of the growing season - under their weight the shoots themselves will bend to the ground. As a covering material, you can use spruce branches, hay, sawdust, peat, humus, roofing felt and even polyethylene (the stems do not ripple).

How to cover blackberries for the winter, watch the video:

The video will tell you how to cover young blackberry seedlings from cuttings for the winter:

Blackberry diseases and pests

The following insect pests can collect on shoots and berries:

1. Raspberry stem fly ( small insect grayish color).

It settles in the soil for the winter, and in the spring it leaves its shelter and lays eggs in the upper axils of the leaves. Then larvae appear and harm the plant. You can try to prevent this by digging up the soil in the fall. Having guessed the fly's departure date in the spring (in the middle zone - mid-May, in the south - mid-late April), treat the tops of young shoots with special preparations (Iskra, Actellik). If you have not done this, as soon as the tops of the shoots begin to fade and the tips of the leaves turn black, cut the branches to half their length. If the entire length of the shoot is affected, it must be removed completely. Dispose of all cut sections.

1. Raspberry shoot gall midge or raspberry mosquito (the size of the insect is 1.5-2 mm, so it can be detected already when harming the plant).

Females lay eggs under the bark. The larvae begin to eat the inner layer of the shoot, which is why it becomes covered with brown spots; when the bark is finally eaten, the shoot breaks. This occurs at the time of fruit ripening.

Take preventive measures:

• be sure to carry out sanitary pruning;
• to destroy insects in the soil, dig up the root zone, going 15 cm deep;
• mulch the soil with a layer of peat 8-10 mm thick to prevent insects from flying out
• from mid-April, treat the soil with an insecticide.

1. Raspberry gall moth (small insect with membranous wings).

During the flowering period of the plant, the female lays eggs. After some time, a gall (a round swelling up to 10 cm long) filled with larvae forms on the shoots. Because of this, cracks appear in the bark, which makes the shoots fragile. For prevention, treat the plant with a special insecticide before flowering. In case of defeat, it is necessary to cut and burn the shoots.

1. Raspberry leaf sawfly

Females lay many eggs in the leaf axils. After the larvae emerge, the leaves die. Then they continue to feed on the leaves of the plant, leaving holey marks on them. This occurs during the period May-October. If there are a lot of pests, they can destroy the blackberries. Loosen the soil under the bush, mulch trunk circle, collect the larvae mechanically, and treat the bushes with an insecticide in the summer.

Blackberry varieties with photo names and descriptions

Popular varieties of blackberries are:

Blackberry variety Black Satin

A powerful bush that is not prone to thickening. The length of the shoots is 5 m, which begin to creep when they reach a height of 1.5 m. Produces up to 25 kg of berries per season. Tolerates temperatures as low as -22 °C and requires shelter for the winter.

Blackberry variety Agavam

Blackberry Agawam Rubus fruticosus ‘Agawam’

The height of the bush is 1.8-3 m. The tops of the shoots are drooping. One bush produces 5-15 kg of berries. Frost-resistant variety: does not freeze when the temperature drops to -30 °C.

Blackberry variety Doyle

Blackberry Doyle Rubus Doyle’s photo

Most productive variety. Rarely gets sick, resistant to drought. The bush branches heavily, shoots grow up to 4 m long. With intensive cultivation, one bush can produce up to 50 kg of berries. The berries are tasty, sweet and sour, very aromatic, weighing up to 8g. Fruits from the end of July until the end of September.

Blackberry variety Apache

One bush produces 7-8 kg of berries. Doesn't like drought. Withstands temperatures down to -20 °C.

Blackberry variety Karaka Black

Blackberry Karaka Black Karaka Black photo

The variety is remarkable large berries oblong shape. Fruiting: 8-10 kg per bush. Sometimes the leaves may turn yellow, which is not a cause for concern, but a feature of the variety. Does not tolerate cold well.

Picking such berries is a pleasure: large, shiny, do not leak juice, and very tasty.

Blackberry variety Ruben

The compact bush produces about 14-15 kg of berries. It bears fruit for a long time and is not afraid of severe frosts.

Blackberry variety Thornfree

Blackberry Thornfree Thornfree photo

This is a thornless blackberry with large juicy berries. The variety is resistant to drought, cold and pests. One bush produces up to 12 kg of fruit.

Blackberry variety Loch Tay

Bush with erect shoots. Drought-resistant, but does not tolerate cold well. Very large delicious berries- advantages of the variety.

Blackberry variety Arapahoe

Variety with early dates ripening and very large berries, comparable to the phalanx of a finger. Withstands cold temperatures down to -25 °C.

Blackberry variety Polar

Fruits from June to September. One bush produces about 7 kg of berries. The berries have a sweet taste without the inherent astringency.

Delicious and sweet berry, despite its close relationship with the familiar raspberry, received a funny name, reminiscent of a small prickly animal - blackberry. This probably happened due to the “sharp” nature of the bushes - the branches are abundantly covered with prickly thorns, which turn organized blackberry plantings into real ones. hedge. And although this berry has long been in undeserved second place after raspberries, today it confidently comes out on top. We will talk about how and when to plant blackberry bushes correctly in this article.

Without exception, all blackberry varieties can be divided into three main types: bramble (distinguished by upright growing stems), dewberry (with weaving branches) and semi-creeping intermediate species.

Kumanika is a plant with upright growing stems, which is characterized by reproduction by root sprouts. It is this group that includes the majority of varieties that easily survive the winter, even if they are not covered. For example, one of the most resistant varieties– Flint, which can withstand temperatures as low as -40 degrees.

Dewberries are characterized by creeping shoots with large and juicy berries. These varieties can be propagated by cuttings or by rooting the tops. Garden blackberry These varieties are more productive, but are more difficult to withstand winter; they must be protected from frost.

If we talk about intermediate forms, more than enough of them have appeared recently. They vary slightly in terms of fruiting, fruit shape, and degree of resistance to pests and diseases.

And recently something new has appeared: thornless blackberries are now available to gardeners. The berries on such plants are absolutely not inferior in taste and commercial quality to their prickly counterparts, but the harvesting process is greatly simplified.

Preparing for landing

If you are planning to plant blackberries in the fall, Special attention Pay attention to the development of the root system: the roots of the seedling should be well developed. It is also important to find out the characteristics of a particular variety in order to plant the crop correctly, observing the terms and conditions.

Of course, planting blackberry bushes in the fall involves exclusively frost-resistant varieties- after all young plant have to go through a cold winter.

You can plant bushes by choosing the right place: it should be well protected from the winds, have a sufficient level of lighting all winter and warm up well. Blackberries are a moisture-loving crop; this is also important to take into account before planting the bush in the chosen location.

Another important stage in preparing for planting berries in the fall is the condition of the soil, because it is better not to replant the bush. The selected area must be completely free of weeds, you need to properly loosen it - carefully dig up the place where you plan to plant it, to a depth of up to half a meter.

Blackberry planting technology

In the fall, when blackberry bushes are planted for the winter, it is important to properly organize shelter for them: when the plant is planted, it needs to be covered with a 15-centimeter layer of peat or humus for the whole winter. But first, let's talk about how to plant plants.

If you decide to propagate blackberries not by cuttings, but by seedlings, then dig a large hole (about 0.5x0.5 m). When it is ready, you need to add about half a bucket of humus. The fertilizer must be thoroughly mixed with the top layer of soil and placed in the prepared hole.

When you place the plant in the hole, deepen its root collar by about 3 cm. The roots must be carefully leveled to prevent creases. To plant a bush, you need to carefully cover it with soil and compact the soil well around the root.

When the planting process is completed, the bushes should be watered generously (up to 1 bucket per bush) and thoroughly mulched with straw (2–3 cm layer). In this condition, young bushes planted in the fall will survive the long winter without any problems.

If you decide to plant straight-growing berries in the fall, make holes at a distance of about a meter from each other, and leave 2 m between the rows. Bushes of a creeping variety in the fall should be planted at a distance of at least 2 m, maintaining a row spacing of 2.5 m.

Choosing suitable variety for your site, remember a few rules:

• Decide on the method of propagating bushes - cuttings or root shoots, because sooner or later you will definitely want to replant old bush to a new place or propagate the plant. With cuttings the situation is somewhat simpler, since some varieties of blackberries are very reluctant to form root shoots, while with cuttings you will not face a lack of material.
• Pay attention to the frost resistance of the variety - not all bushes can easily survive our winter; many require protection from the cold.
• Study the ripening time of the fruits of a particular variety so that the garden berry pleases you for as long as possible.

Take care of your garden with love and attention, and the blackberry bushes will delight you with a rich harvest, providing you with the opportunity to enjoy the fragrant and healthy berry all winter.

Video “How to plant blackberries correctly”

From this video you will learn how to properly plant blackberries and prepare them for winter.