Easy Care for Raspberry and Blackberry Plants

Raspberry and blackberry plants, commonly called brambles, are fun fruit producing plants for the yard.

People grow them for a variety of reasons.

Three of the most popular reasons for maintaining the plants are that the fruit is tasty, they help attract wildlife and they are relatively easy to grow. In fact, they often grow so well that keeping up with pruning will be your biggest growing challenge.

The picture on the left shows two general pruning options.

The left side of the photo shows tall grass and bending canes covering the front of the canes' root system. If you are interested in providing more ground cover for wildlife, you might consider a variation of this look for your plants. In that case, pruning is only needed every couple of years.

Types of Fruit Types of Fruit Apples Blueberries Drying Cherries Grapefruit Grapes Huckleberries Lemons Oranges Pears Plumbs Pumpkins Strawberry

You will still get some fruit during the non-pruning years, however fruit production might decrease when the fruiting canes have trouble finding room and sun in the denser surroundings.

The right side of the photo shows a dirt patch in front of sprouting canes. If you are interested in maximizing fruit production you would choose a pruning option that starts from this vantage point.

Once you have decided on a general pruning option, the next thing to consider is the actual pruning process.

If you are going to do any pruning, it is important to remember that the stickers on raspberry and blackberry canes are very sharp. Wearing proper attire helps reduce the potential for getting scratched.

Deciding on which canes to prune is a two step process. First, a look at the picture on the left shows a ground view of the canes. There is a general distinction between dead and dying brown canes and the live green canes. All the dead and dying brown canes should be removed by clipping them as close to the ground as possible.

After you have removed the dead canes, there are two types of live green canes remaining. Both berry plants share the characteristic of being biennial fruiting plants. The plants grow in clusters of canes and every two years, a cane, known as the floricane, will flower and fruit. Berries are harvested during the summer months for most varieties. Once harvested, the best thing to do is cut the floricane down by clipping off the end of the cane as close to the ground as possible. Remove the pruned flouricane immediately to keep down insect populations.

The canes that you want to keep growing are the first year canes. They are commonly called primocanes, and your goal during pruning is to provide these canes with food, water and sunshine in order to get them ready for fruiting. While raspberry and blackberry canes grow in most climates and soil condition, fruit production is maximized when the canes are placed in sunny areas with soil that drains well.

Experts differ on the amount of pruning that primocanes need during the summer growing season. Suggestions range from no pruning, to keeping the canes at a three to four foot height, depending on the cultivar of the plant. The actual pruning process involves little more than removing the top of the cane using some shears.

Some simple late fall or early winter activities take care of primocane nutrition needs. The most sound long term nutrition advise for the plants would be keep the ground around the canes free of weeds. Adding a layer of mulch on the ground around the canes helps suppress weeds. As it begins to decompose it adds organic content to the soil, and the canes thrive in rich organic soil.

© 2006. Patricia A. Michaels