How to properly prune blackberries in spring to get a good harvest, bush care for beginners

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Blackberries are a fastidious shrub that requires careful care throughout the growing season. It is customary to remove branches from a bush in early spring before the first leaves appear, as well as after harvesting the last harvest before the onset of night frosts. To prevent pruning blackberries in the spring for beginners or in the fall from becoming problematic, you need to arm yourself with the simplest agrotechnical knowledge.

Autumn work in the garden

Why prune blackberries?

First of all, pay attention to the botanical features of this fruit crop. Wild blackberry is a climbing shrub. If its vine sinks to the ground, it can take root and form another bush. All together, intertwined with thorny vines, the bushes tend to form thickets that are difficult to overcome. The length of the stems of one plant can reach 6 m.

Any vine, if cut at the top, begins to branch. The main shoot thickens and becomes stronger. The more branches there are, the higher the overall yield. The berries ripen only on the lateral fruit branches of young shoots formed in the current season. Having fruited once, they will not produce any more berries.

Therefore, pruning has several purposes:
start branching the main shoot;
remove old ones that bear fruit in order to stimulate the growth of new ones;
remove the weak ones to channel nutrients to the stronger ones;
reduce the length of the vines, since if the bushes are too tall, they can be damaged by strong wind or snow.

Important! Do not prune blackberries planted this year. She doesn't yet have any old shoots that need to be trimmed.

Rules for caring for a bush in autumn

After the growing season, blackberries need care. In October or November, the bush should be properly preserved for the future harvest. Pruning old stems and cutting off thorns helps a lot with this.

So is it necessary to prune blackberries for the winter and why:

the bush is not loaded with old lashes;
minerals and nutrients penetrate the roots and make them resistant to frost;
the sun warms up the new stems better;
cropped bushes are easier to cover with insulation;
pruning stimulates flowering and embryo development.

Pruning and watering are important when growing garden shrubs. Loosening the soil near the root system also helps the berries ripen better. But you need to harrow carefully so as not to damage the roots of the plant, which can have a detrimental effect on the bush until it dries out.

When and how to prune bushes in spring

Technologically, shrub pruning is necessary 2 times a year:

the first time you need to shorten shoots;
the second, when you need to cut out the fruit bearing ones.

Gardeners often argue about the timing of these processes. And none of the points of view is the absolute truth. It is also taken into account that modern garden blackberries are represented by climbing and erect varieties. The peculiarities of their processing must be taken into account.

Trimming technology

The growing season of all varieties begins in early spring, when the snow melts.

In each region, this period begins at its own time:

on the Black Sea coast - in March;
in the central part of Russia - in early April;
in the northern regions - at the end of April.

It will be useful for you to learn the proper spring care of blackberries for a large harvest.

For climbing varieties, pruning instructions will look like this:

When the new shoot reaches a length of 76–90 cm, it is cut off at the top. This causes it to thicken and activates the development of lateral branches along its entire length.
If the vines become too developed over the summer, then after harvesting, when the bush enters a dormant state, the weak ones are cut off. Those that are developed normally are shortened by 30 cm. The berries that ripen in this case will be larger.
In winter or early spring, frozen and fruit-bearing branches are removed. Although some gardeners advise carrying out February pruning (aka early spring, if done in March) in late autumn - in November.

As for upright shrubs, the shoots that appeared this year are not touched during the entire growing season. In February, they are shortened by 12–14 cm. At the same time, the old ones that have produced a harvest are removed.

An important advantage of upright bushes is that they can be planted more densely with a distance between individual plants of 1 m. While weaving ones will need at least 3 m.

Deadlines

The branches are shortened when they reach a very specific size - 76–90 cm. But the pruning process should be started when the plant is at rest - from November to March.

Methods

One of the important tasks of pruning is to form developed bushes. Since the plant consists of individual shoots, the more there are, the higher the yield.

Berry bushes can form:

Making your own trellis (support) for blackberries: step-by-step instructions

on the trunk;
on the trellis.

A standard is a decorative form of pruning a tree or bush. In this case, the central shoot is shortened by 10 cm. As a result, the formation of lateral branches begins, i.e., branching of the bush.

Since blackberries are a multi-stemmed shrub, each new shoot of the current year, if shortened, next year will form several branches at the top and will look like a spear. To prevent the branches from bending under the weight of the berries, they are tied to a regular trellis.

The garter is done so that each branch receives the same amount of sun and air.

A shrub consisting of erect shoots is also formed with a garter to a trellis. There are V-shaped, T-shaped and Y-shaped trellis designs. To create it, pillars are dug into the sides of the row. If the height of the bush is about 2 m, you will need supports up to 3–4 m long made of wood or metal.

The support pillar is dug into the ground to a depth of 1–1.5 m. To do this, prepare a hole, as when planting trees, install the pillar and compact the soil around it. The part of the support remaining on the surface will be used to tie up the shoots.

You will need to secure 2 rows of wire, the horizontal distance between which will be about 10–15 cm. Tie the shoots formed this year to one row. And to the second those who will grow in the next one. This way you won’t get confused which ones need to be cut after fruiting.

Considering that blackberries are a vine, you can consider another method of staking: entwining a climbing vine around a support. This form also looks good, but it is less productive than previous options. The vines are laid in waves along the horizontal fastenings on the trellis.

Important! In autumn, branches can be pruned only in those regions where there will be no severe frosts. Otherwise, in winter the wood will crack and the bush will freeze.

Blackberry pruning diagram

As for pruning schemes, they are typical for perennial berry bushes, the branches of which live for 5 or more years. They are formed into a crown and given the decorative shape of a ball, cone or pyramid. This does not apply to blackberries, since only the roots live for a long time, and the shoots - no more than 3 years.

If by pruning schemes we mean sanitary and normalizing, then the first consists of removing dry branches during the dormant period, and normalizing, like molding, is applicable only to perennial bushes.

Video: how to prune blackberries in spring

For erect

Erect branches are only shortened. In the first year of growth of bush blackberries, the plant is not touched. And in winter or early spring, before the second year of development, the branches are shortened by 12–14 cm. An erect bush should consist of 10–14 shoots. If there are more of them, try to remove the weaker ones in order to strengthen the remaining ones.

For creeping, climbing

For climbing varieties, shoots begin to be shortened if they have reached a length of 76–90 cm. This stimulates the development of lateral branches. You don't have to do this if you decide to grow the plant in one shoot, wrapping it around a pillar-like support. But keep in mind that the yield of such plants will always be less.

Climbing varieties are wrapped around wire and when grown on a trellis. In this case, the vines of the current year of growth are allowed to go in one direction, and the vines of the next year - in the other for the convenience of harvesting and subsequent pruning.

Did you know? Did you know? Blackberry flowers

—
excellent honey plants. They produce dark honey with a rich fruity taste.

For a renovated look

Remontant varieties of both raspberries and blackberries allow you to get 2 harvests per season from the shoots. In the first year of growth, the upper part of the stem produces a small harvest. Fruiting period is July or August.

The next year, the same shoot bears fruit at the beginning of summer, but already in its middle part. Accordingly, the shoots of the first year of growth cannot be pruned. But in the early spring of the second year (they) can shorten them by 10 cm, since there will be no fruiting in this part.

For thornless

Thornless blackberries follow the same rules as thorned ones. There are many varieties in this category with a variety of characteristics. But pruning is carried out taking into account whether this variety is erect or creeping, and also whether it is remontant.

Did you know? The nuance of thornless varieties] is that some gardeners note that when pruning in autumn, the bushes grow very quickly and it is not advisable to waste energy on supporting shoots that will no longer produce a harvest.

Main biological features of garden blackberries

Blackberries are light-loving subshrubs that grow well in almost any soil, except those that are too heavy, very acidic and waterlogged. It is considered a relatively drought-resistant, unpretentious plant that can easily tolerate summer heat. But to obtain a bountiful harvest, regular watering and fertilizing with organic fertilizers are necessary.

Blackberry is an unpretentious high-yielding shrub

According to the type of growth and methods of propagation, blackberry varieties are divided into three groups:

Kumanika are plants with erect shoots up to three meters high, very prickly and relatively winter-hardy. They produce many root suckers used for propagation. The tips of the shoots do not take root.
Dewberry is a plant with creeping shoots up to two meters long. The original wild forms are thorny, but there are also modern varieties without thorns. They produce very few root shoots and reproduce by rooting the tops of young stems. In central Russia and even in some places in Siberia, local wild blackberries of this type are found. However, garden varieties created on the basis of American species have low winter hardiness.
Transitional type, which includes most modern varieties of complex hybrid origin. Plants with or without thorns, semi-creeping or erect stems with strongly drooping tops. Winter hardiness is low. The tops of the stems take root; the number of root shoots depends on the specific variety.

Blackberry shoots have a two-year development cycle. In the first year, the shoot actively increases its mass, in the second year it blooms and bears fruit, after which it dies. Blackberries bloom in the first half of summer. For many varieties, this period extends to two months or more. The flowers are large, white or pinkish, honey-bearing.

Blackberry flowers are very beautiful

Due to the long flowering period, the ripening period of the berries is also extended, which is a definite plus for amateur cultivation and a minus for industrial crops. Most American varieties are difficult to grow in central Russia, not only because of insufficient winter hardiness, but also because fruiting is too late. The berries simply do not have time to ripen before the onset of frost.

Blackberries do not ripen at the same time

How to shorten stems

The main requirement for the procedure is not to harm the plant. To do this, use sterile sharpened instruments. Sterilization is performed by wiping the cutting surfaces with alcohol before working with each subsequent plant. Alcohol can be replaced by treatment with a solution of water and bleach in a 1:1 ratio.

Main features of the process:

All cuts of old branches are made at the root. Don't leave stumps. They will become a place for the development of various fungi.
Any cut is made at an angle of 45°.
Only branches whose thickness does not exceed 3 cm are cut with pruning shears. The rest are cut with a hacksaw. Do not break branches, as any cutting line must be smooth.
Treat thick sections with garden varnish or oil-based paint.

Did you know? There are about 370 garden varieties of blackberries growing in the world. And most of them were created just in the last 140 years.

What errors are possible?

It is not always that a gardener copes with the difficult task of pruning thorny bushes with an “A”, and mistakes are possible. Let's get acquainted with the most common mistakes that gardeners make during this procedure.

Time dragging

Although there is still some time left after the end of blackberry fruiting and before frost, you should not delay the procedure too much. Young shoots pruned shortly before the cold weather simply do not have time to grow stronger. Therefore, there is a high probability of them freezing in winter.

Leave old shoots on the bush

Under no circumstances should fruiting shoots be left on the plant. They will take away nutrients from the bush: young shoots will thus receive little.

Blackberries primarily share their nutrition with old branches, leaving young ones to “fend for themselves.” But if you get rid of this ballast in time, the young branches will become stronger and will be able to ripen well.

Neglect of varietal characteristics

There are varieties of garden blackberries that require more frequent and careful pruning. It is necessary to take this point into account and follow the rules of agricultural technology. Otherwise, you can get a significantly lower yield than you would like.

Standardization of the number of shoots

When we talk about rationing, it means calculating the load of the bush and in 90% of cases it is a grape bush. Divide the plant mentally into 2 parts: roots and vines. The grape vine is a perennial. It can produce an infinite number of shoots. But the root provides nutrition to this entire mass.

If it cannot cope with the load, then the vines will turn out thin and weak, and the clusters will be small and not too dense. Therefore, the grape bush is normalized, that is, exactly as much above-ground part is left as the root system can feed.

Grape producers will always indicate the permissible number of vines and the load on them, depending on the characteristics of the variety. For example, a vine thickness of 5 mm allows for the presence of 2 shoots, and with a thickness of 10 mm, 8 shoots are allowed.

The blackberry bush has a completely different situation. The root system is perennial, and the vines are annuals or biennials, depending on the variety. And the root system forms exactly as many shoots as there are buds.

The last parameter depends on the fertility of the soil. On a weak vine, the harvest will not be large. If you decide to remove the weaker branches from the resulting branches, then simply direct the nutrients to the stronger ones. And this does not mean that you will greatly affect the harvest.

Therefore, applying the concept of “rationing” to blackberry bushes is simply meaningless.

Formation of a bush in the first and second years of growth

It is also advisable to apply the concept of bush shaping to perennial berry bushes, such as currants, gooseberries, viburnum, and honeysuckle. The purpose of shaping pruning is to remove excess thickening and give the bush shape. In the first year of growth of a blackberry bush, regardless of whether it is an erect or climbing variety, it is not recommended to prune it.

In the second year, you will already have shoots that should bear fruit this year, and new ones that will bear fruit next year.

The first pruning in the life of the plant should occur after the harvest is harvested. From now on, follow the pruning rules for your specific type of blackberry.

How to care for the plant after

After pruning the shoots, the blackberry bush requires more careful care, consisting of the following steps:

inspecting the cut shoots and tying them to the trellis wire or supports;
when pruning thick shoots after the start of sap flow, it is advisable to cover their ends with garden varnish;
spraying with a stimulant to overcome stress, such as Megafol;
shallow loosening of the root zone;
abundant and regular watering of blackberries;