Hi, I'm Tricia, an organic gardener.
Brambles, like blackberries, raspberries and boysenberries are a wonderful fruit for the home garden.
And they're easy to grow! I'll show you how!
Brambles are also called cane berries, and they're not picky when it comes to soil,
but they need good drainage.
I've been soaking this thornless blackberry for a couple of hours,
and now I'm going to dig a hole about the size of the root system.
Dig a shallow hole big enough to accommodate the roots.
I'm also going to add some of this PrimeStart Booster Blend to encourage the root growth.
So we're just going to plant the blackberry to the same level it was planted in the nursery.
Then I'm going to top it off with a little organic compost.
So you just want to snip off the cane, about 2 - 3 inches from the ground. This will help prevent disease.
And it's important to prune your berries. You want to prune to prevent disease and to increase yields.
And you're going to prune twice a year. Once in the summer before you get the berries,
and once after harvest.
Blackberries and black rapsberries are grown in what we call a "hill method"
meaning they're grown in a clump next to a post, or a fence.
Blackberries and black raspberries may have the same color fruit, but they're different.
One of the distinctions is that the core on a raspberry will stay with plant,
and the core on a blackberry will come off with the fruit.
During the dormant season, you want to prune any canes that fruited last year down to the ground.
The canes are easy to tell apart. Cut all the dead canes and leave the dark-barked live canes.
And you want to thin out these little weak canes. You want no more than about 6 to 8 really strong canes.
Once you've thinned them out, now you want to just head back the canes.
About 4 - 5 feet from the ground.
And then you're gonna want to head back the laterals,
canes that are coming off the main cane, to about 12 - 18 inches.
Here's a nice little bud. I'm going to head mine off right after that.
So after you've trimmed back and cut back all your laterals,
You're done!
Today, we're going to revitalize a sprawling berry patch.
Blackberries and black raspberries drop their canes and set root in the dirt. That's how they spread.
It's called tip layering.
To avoid the tip rooting, just prune these canes in the summer before they hit the ground.
Red and gold raspberries do best growing in a hedgerow,
because they spread by the roots and they need ample room to grow.
Unlike blackberries, or black raspberries, red and gold raspberries require some kind of a structure for support.
You're going to cut the cane that fruited last summer, and you can tell because it's grayish looking, and it's dead.
Now that I've cut out all the third year canes that were dead,
I'm going to prune back the rest of the canes to about 15 canes per foot.
Leave the healthier thick canes, and prune out the little skinny ones.
You're gonna try to leave about 4 to 5 inches between each cane.
For any canes that have escaped your hedgerow, dig 'em out!
These escape artists that we dug up would be a great gift for a neighbor,
and be sure and destroy all of the clippings. They can cause disease if left in the hedgerow.
Add some mulch to prevent weed competition and retain moisture.
This summer enjoy baskets and baskets of berries,
and Grow Organic for Life!