Content
- 1 Do I need to prune blackberries?
- 2 When to prune blackberries in spring
- 3 Correct formation of a blackberry bush and pruning
- 4 Scheme for pruning garden blackberries in spring
- 5 Blackberry garter after pruning
- 6 Care after spring pruning: tying, loosening, watering
- 7 How to prune blackberries in summer
- 8 Possible mistakes when pruning garden blackberries in spring
- 9 Conclusion
Despite the intensive growth of vines, blackberry bushes have an attractive decorative appearance. However, in addition to beauty, it is also necessary to harvest. Excess shoots thicken the bush. The plant becomes weak, does not overwinter well, bears few berries, and the taste of the fruits is noticeably reduced. The problem can only be solved by correct formation of the bush, and pruning is indispensable.
Do I need to prune blackberries?
By its natural origin, blackberries are a biennial plant. The first year the bush grows. This period is important for the formation of fruit buds. In the second year, the plant throws out flower stalks in the spring and bears fruit. For the third year, only foliage will grow on the old branches. These shoots are of no use, and they only need to be pruned. New canes will bear fruit next spring.If the old shoots are not removed, so many of them will accumulate that the blackberries will weave into a huge green lump. Such a bush will no longer bear any harvest.
In addition to old shoots, pruning of young root shoots is also necessary. It grows too much, which also creates a thickening of the bush.
When to prune blackberries in spring
Blackberries, like most other plants, are pruned in the fall, when fruiting ends and the crop enters the dormant stage. The timing depends on the climatic conditions of the region. Typically pruning occurs between October and November.
In the spring, a sanitary procedure is carried out. Remove frozen and damaged shoots and shorten long blackberry branches to increase yield. The best time is considered to be the short period immediately after the snow melts. It is advisable to choose a moment when the buds have not yet swelled and the threat of night frosts has passed.
How to prune blackberries correctly
The blackberry bush consists of thin branches. For pruning, you only need a sharp pruning shears. To make the procedure painless for the blackberry bush, follow simple rules:
- For pruning, use only clean, sharply sharpened pruning shears;
- thick lashes are cut with a garden saw;
- adhere to pruning dates in the spring;
- follow the rules for forming a bush.
After wintering, the plant is carefully inspected. If pruning has not been done since the fall, then in the spring all old shoots are immediately removed to the very roots.
After pruning old branches, young overwintered shoots are examined.The lashes may have areas damaged by rodents or simply frostbitten in winter. A bad shoot is identified by its black color, roughness of the bark, and fragility. When identified, such twigs are completely cut out without leaving a stump.
Even healthy vines need to be examined for viability in the spring. The unusability of such a stem can occur due to freezing or spoilage of the buds. Such a blackberry shoot is not cut to the very root. It is allowed to leave a stump here if there are 1-2 live buds. New shoots will grow from them in the summer.
We suggest watching a video for beginners on how to prune blackberries in the spring:
In the spring, when pruning blackberries, all thin and weak stems are removed, even if they have overwintered well. Experienced gardeners recommend cutting off all shoots that are in doubt. There is no need to feel sorry for thin lashes. Fewer healthy branches will produce more yield than a bunch of thin, weak growth.
After wintering and spring pruning, a bush with 6–8 healthy stems from last year is considered complete. If only four normal shoots remain on the plant in the spring, then the bush is considered weakened. It is not allowed to bear fruit, but is shortened. The bush will recover over the summer, grow, and next year it will bear a harvest. If this situation repeats, it is necessary to take measures to restore the bush - feeding, proper care.
There is also repeated control pruning of blackberries in the spring after the leaves bloom. In an adult plant, fruit-bearing shoots are shortened by 10 cm. The procedure is aimed at increasing productivity.
Correct formation of a blackberry bush and pruning
Forming a bush in the spring makes it easier to harvest berries, autumn pruning and shelter for the winter. The upright species is fanned out along the trellis. Shoots in creeping species blackberries gardeners divide them into young (this year's shoots) and fruit-bearing (last year's) shoots.
Upright varieties
Blackberries, which have an erect crown structure, are distinguished by the fragility of their stems. The bush is formed according to the following rules:
- in the spring, overwintered canes are fixed vertically on the trellis;
- Young shoots that grow in summer are sent out sideways;
- in the fall, before sheltering, all erect stems are pruned;
- 10 strong young side shoots are left, and the rest are also cut off;
- in the fall, the remaining branches are shortened by ¼ length, laid on the ground and covered.
Next spring, these lashes are tied vertically to the trellis, and new growth is sent out to the side. The cycle repeats.
Creeping varieties
Blackberries with a creeping crown structure are distinguished by good stem flexibility. The lashes can grow up to 10 m long. The plant is formed according to the following scheme:
- In the spring, overwintered lashes are wound in a spiral on a wire. Usually they are allowed in the right side.
- Young shoots are directed to the left and wound onto a wire in a similar spiral.
- In autumn the branches on the right side are pruned. 10 strong lashes are left from the left wing, and the rest are trimmed.
Blackberry vines overwinter in a prepared trench. In the spring they become fruit-bearing and start to fly along the wire to the right. New stems will grow to the left. The cycle repeats.
Pruning non-thorny blackberries (thornless)
The climbing, thornless varieties of blackberries are called dewberries. The culture is formed by lateral shoots. The stems are trimmed, leaving areas with four buds. In summer, side shoots will grow from them, which are left to spread along the ground. There will be no berries on young vines.
After wintering, these branches already become fruit-bearing. The lashes are secured to the trellis, and new replacement side shoots are sent along the ground.
Pruning remontant blackberries
The easiest way is to form remontant blackberry bushes. The plant is pruned only in the fall to zero, that is, the entire above-ground part is removed. The remontant crop bears fruit only on the stems of the current year.
Scheme for pruning garden blackberries in spring
In cold regions, blackberry seedlings are planted in the spring. The plant is immediately pruned. Removing most of the stems has a positive effect on the growth of the root system. After rooting, almost after a couple of weeks, young shoots begin to grow.
Pruning blackberry seedlings in the spring must be done according to the following rules:
- Immediately after planting, the lateral shoots and tops of the seedling are cut off, leaving a twig up to 30 cm.
- The next season, in early spring, they prune the grown side stems, shortening them by 15 cm. They will bear fruit. In the fall, these vines are cut out, and the replacement shoots that grew in the summer are left in the spring.
- In the spring of the third year, last year's branches are already shortened by 30 cm. Now they will bear fruit.
The further pruning cycle is repeated from year to year.
How to shorten stems
Healthy stems are shortened by ¼ length in the fall. In the spring they will throw out more flower stalks and bring a rich harvest. Branches should be pruned only above the buds without leaving stumps.
After conducting a spring inspection of the overwintered crop, they begin sanitary pruning. Only a partially frozen stem can be shortened to 1–2 buds. Pruning of completely damaged branches is carried out at the root.
Standardization of the number of shoots
A blackberry bush consisting of 7–8 shoots is considered complete. After wintering, usually 5–6 shoots survive by spring. You can leave 10 branches in the fall to achieve the desired result. Excess lashes can always be trimmed off in the spring. In general, six shoots that have overwintered are considered normal for a plant.
If by spring only 4 branches have emerged, then the bush is considered weak. But it can be restored by leaving an additional 3-4 young shoots. When only three branches survive after wintering, the plant is considered very weak. It is better to remove such blackberries from the garden or strengthen the bush with fertilizers.
Blackberry garter after pruning
It is more convenient to grow blackberries by tying the vines to a trellis. Last year's fruiting shoots are brittle. Under the weight of the crop without support, the stems can break off. Blackberries tied to a trellis are much more convenient to care for during the season, and harvesting is much easier. Moreover, the plant is illuminated to the maximum by the sun and ventilated. The stems are tied to the trellis in the spring immediately after pruning. The plant is formed according to one of three popular schemes.
Fan
The scheme is based on securing young shoots to a trellis in the center of the bush. Old fruiting branches are directed one stem at a time to the side. The fan pattern is more suitable for upright blackberry varieties.
Ropeway
The scheme similarly provides for the distribution of young blackberry shoots in the center of the bush, tied vertically to a trellis. Fruiting branches are sent to the side, but they are woven in twos. The resulting braids increase the stability of the tied plant.
Wave
In the wave scheme, young shoots are tied vertically to the trellis and sent sideways along the top wire. Fruiting stems are sent out in waves along the three lower wires of the support.
Care after spring pruning: tying, loosening, watering
Immediately after the end of spring pruning, all branches are removed from the area and burned. Pests have overwintered in the damaged bark and need to be gotten rid of. The trimmed bushes are tied to the trellis according to one of the selected patterns.
The soil of the tree trunk area is loosened, watered, and mulched with peat. With the beginning of active growth, the plant is fed with nitrogen-containing fertilizer. You can use organic matter or add 20 g of saltpeter per 1 m². When the ovary is formed, it is fed with potassium and phosphorus fertilizers.
How to prune blackberries in summer
Summer pruning of blackberries allows you to get rid of the thickening of the crown. Remove unnecessary, intensively growing growth. If the bush throws out a lot of extra shoots, they are also pruned.
Immediately after fruiting, you can remove the old branches so that the bush puts all its energy into forming new lashes. In early varieties, excess branches are removed in June. Pruning of remontant, mid-season and late blackberries is carried out as necessary.
Possible mistakes when pruning garden blackberries in spring
Sometimes pruning blackberries in the spring seems difficult for novice gardeners.A person begins to get confused in his actions and make mistakes, which leads to bad consequences.
To prevent spring pruning from harming blackberry bushes, the following rules must be adopted:
- If you did not have time to cut the stems before the buds awakened, it is better to leave them in this state until autumn.
- In spring, branches from last year cannot be trimmed. A harvest will form on them. Only two-year-old, fruit-bearing shoots are pruned.
- It is necessary to take into account the varietal characteristics of blackberries. There are varieties that it is advisable to prune once every two or three years. Annual removal of branches will lead to decorative splendor of the bush, and the berries will be small and sour.
- When forming the crown, you cannot leave more fruit-bearing branches than the required number. The plant is not able to provide nutrients to shoots with a large number of berries.
Following these four simple rules will help you avoid serious pruning mistakes.
Conclusion
Pruning blackberries in the spring is a very important event, the purpose of which is to normalize the number of shoots, form a bush and remove damaged, frozen stems. The point of this procedure is to increase the yield of blackberries. The pruning process may seem complicated to some. But later, having gained experience, the gardener’s hands will intuitively determine which branch to remove and what needs to be left.
