How to care for garden blackberries, shrub planting rules

It is impossible not to fall in love with the rich taste and delicate aroma of tea, to which unusual black berries resembling raspberries are added. Planting blackberries on the site will allow you to enjoy a healthy drink as much as you like, as well as enjoy them fresh. In the forests, this unpretentious shrub quickly forms dense thorny thickets, through which it is impossible to get through without loss. At the dachas, you can not find him so often. The cultivated blackberry cannot be called too capricious. But if her forest sister does not require special care, then from the hybrid varieties of shrubs ˗ Thornfree, Loch Tay, Chester, Black Satin, Netchez, Thornless Evergreen, Aghavam ˗ you cannot wait for a rich harvest without due attention.

Seat selection

Blackberries love sunlight, and it is better to plant them in areas open to him. It is especially important to follow this recommendation in regions where summer does not differ in length and does not indulge in an abundance of hot days ˗ in the Urals or in the Leningrad Region. A little shading will not affect the growth of the shrub, but it will negatively affect the number of berries and their taste. They will be more sour in Black Satin and other varieties. A significant lack of light will affect young shoots, which can be very elongated.

It is better to place the blackberry next to the fence or walls of buildings. They will reliably protect it from the wind. Its impulses prevent the flowers of the bush from pollinating, break delicate shoots, and pluck ripening berries. So that the thick shadow from the buildings does not interfere with the development of the blackberry, plant it correctly at a distance of at least 1 m from them. It is good if the site has southern or western slopes. On them, the bush will not be threatened by cold north and east winds.

Growing blackberries in the country will be more successful if the soil on the site is loamy or sandy loam. It must meet 4 requirements:

• be loose;
• well drained;
• fertile
• have a neutral or slightly acidic reaction (it is better if the pH is 6.0).

Blackberries may well develop in the neighborhood of raspberries. But, since both of them form a lot of root suckers, you will have to constantly fight with young shoots. Otherwise, it will quickly spread throughout the site. There is also an easier option ˗ to choose thornless varieties that do not form overgrowths (Black Satin, Navajo).

Soil preparation and planting dates

It is recommended to plant shrubs in prepared soil. They begin to cultivate it in the fall, pulling out weeds, digging up and disinfecting the soil. Blackberry roots need a nutrient medium. At the same time, an excess of fertilizer will lead to disappointment in the culture: the bushes of the Black Satin, Eldorado or Thornless Evergreen varieties will turn out to be powerful and densely leafy, but they will bloom poorly and will not bring a good harvest. Nutrients of organic and mineral origin are introduced into poor soil. For 1 m2 of the surface of the site spend:

• 10 kg of manure (can be replaced with compost or humus);
• 15 g superphosphate;
• 25 g of potassium sulfate.

Fertilizers should be properly mixed into the soil extracted from pits or trenches in which it is planned to place the blackberry. The roots of the shrubs are covered with the prepared substrate during planting.

Advice

If the soil in the country is calcareous, the plants will suffer from a lack of magnesium and iron. Therefore, before planting a blackberry, you should take care of introducing mineral preparations containing these elements into the soil. In the future, they will need to be used, taking care in the form of dressings for adult bushes.

Thornless Evergreen, Oregon, Black Satin, Erie, Thornfree ˗ any of the blackberry varieties should be planted in spring. The reason is simple. If you provide her young bushes with competent care, by the arrival of winter they will be strong enough to safely survive the cold weather. They begin the procedure when the soil warms up well, therefore, for different regions, different periods of placing bush seedlings in open ground are recommended. In the middle lane, this is done in the second half of spring ˗ towards the end of April or during the May holidays. In areas with warm winters, an autumn planting can be carried out. It is also allowed if winter-hardy varieties of culture are selected for breeding.

Landing rules

It is better if varietal garden blackberries (Thornfrey, Darrow or Black Satin) were purchased from a specialized nursery. Its annual bushes in spring take root well in a new place with a developed root system. It is correct to choose seedlings that have 2 powerful and thick (more than 5 mm in diameter) stems, at the base of which a bud has already formed. Their age and size determine the depth and width of the pit.

Depending on the variety of blackberries, 2 methods of growing it are practiced.

1. The tape method is suitable for those varieties of culture, on the bushes of which new shoots are intensively formed. For them, a trench is dug into which the seedlings are placed. A distance of 1-1.5 m is maintained between them, if the blackberry is erect (Thornfree). For varieties with creeping and semi-creeping shoots (Black Satin, Thornless Evergreen), it is increased to 2.5-2.9 m.The row spacings are made wide ˗ about 2-2.5 m.
2. The bush method can be used when breeding blackberries that are not prone to shoots. For her seedlings, pits are prepared, in which 2-3 young plants are placed in spring. Dig them out at a distance of at least 1.8 m from each other, observing the same interval between the rows.

Planting blackberries has its own characteristics. Having placed the bush in a hole or trench prepared for it, its roots are carefully straightened and sprinkled with soil. It is correct if the distance from the bud, which is located at the base of the stem, to the soil surface is 2-3 cm.

Advice

The pit should not be filled to the top with a nutrient substrate. It is better to leave the blackberry bush in a shallow (5-7 cm) hollow. This will make it easier to care for the plantings, and in early spring will provide the plants with moisture for a long time from the melting of the snow accumulated in the hole.

Having compacted the soil, the planted bush is watered abundantly. Then the surface of the soil next to the trunk is mulched. Better to use manure or compost for this. Blackberry planting ends with pruning of a young plant with complete removal of fruit shoots. After the procedure, the height of the bush should be 20 cm.

Installation of supports

When grown on the site, garden blackberries will require attention. Any of its varieties, be it thornless Black Satin and Thornfrey or spiny Lucretia and Abundant, you need competent care for abundant fruiting. It includes events that are familiar to most summer residents:

• watering;
• loosening the soil;
• mulching;
• weeding;
• top dressing;
• pruning.

In the spring, the care of the seedlings is complemented by the installation of trellises. They are necessary for tying up fast-growing blackberry shoots. It is correct to use strong and high (up to 2 m) pillars as supports. They are installed in each row at a distance of 10 m from each other on both sides of the bush. Having dug in the supports, the wire is pulled over them. Its rows should rise above the ground at a distance of 50-75 cm, 125 cm and 180 cm.

Young shoots of a bush do not need a garter in spring and summer. They are simply directed towards the support, and the branches themselves cling to it. They do this constantly, since with the chaotic growth of shoots, it is difficult to care for the bushes, pruning them and the harvesting process. The highest row of wire is for stems that will appear in the second year of life.

Straight crop varieties begin to bear fruit at the age of 2 years. The main condition under which such a garden blackberry will bring a harvest is pruning. It is carried out when the height of the central young shoots near the bush is 1-1.2 m. They are not greatly shortened, it will be correct to cut the tops by 10 cm. Such care helps to make the bushes more compact. If the blackberries are actively forming side shoots, they also need light pruning. The time for her comes as soon as they grow 0.5 m in height.

Features of agricultural technology

Garden blackberries especially need watering during the first 1.5 months after being placed on a permanent site. Fortified young bushes need moisture only in dry weather. If the plant has entered the fruiting period, water it regularly until the crop is harvested. For the procedure, it is better to take settled and well-warmed by the sun water.

Plantings must be kept clean: the neighborhood of Black Satin weeds, like other varieties of blackberries, does not tolerate well. Loosening the soil between the rows in the spring-summer period is carried out 5-6 times, going deeper into it by 10-12 cm. Under the bushes, it is treated with a hoe or pitchfork twice or three times per season, affecting only the surface layer (5-8 cm).

To save time and effort on care in the form of weeding and loosening, the soil is mulched in spring. Suitable for this:

• straw;
• sawdust;
• needles;
• dry foliage;
• rotted manure;
• compost.

When the blackberries begin to ripen, they need protection from the scorching sun. Its rays can leave burns on their thin skin, which greatly spoil the presentation. Overheating will negatively affect the taste of the berries. Therefore, the plantings are sheltered from the sun with shading nets, pulling them along each row.

Shrub care provides for periodic feeding. Both Thornless Evergreen and thorny blackberries are in dire need of nitrogen in the spring. During this period, ammonium nitrate (20 g per 1 m²) is added to the soil. You can use instead urea or organic fertilizers rich in nitrogen. Top dressing with preparations containing potassium is carried out annually. When choosing a fertilizer, you should pay attention to its composition. It should be free of chlorine. Blackberries also need phosphorus for development. It is introduced into the soil every 3 years.

Advice

Mulching with rotted manure will eliminate the need to fertilize the shrub with preparations containing this element.

How to propagate blackberries

Shrub propagation will not bring much trouble. Its methods depend on the cultivar. If the shoots of the blackberry are creeping, horizontal or apical layers are used for reproduction. It is held in the spring. Having chosen the most powerful of the shoots, it is bent to the ground and covered with soil either its upper part or the entire stem. Parts of the plant trapped in the soil quickly form new roots, and young shoots appear from their buds. They are separated from the mother bush and transplanted.

Reproduction through horizontal layers allows you to get several new plants at once. Once underground, the stem forms young bushes along its entire length. When they are sufficiently developed and strong, the maternal shoot is cut between them, and the plants are dug up and transferred to a new place.

If the blackberry is bushy, its reproduction is usually carried out in one of the following ways:

• cuttings;
• root suckers;
• dividing the bush.

The roots of the plant form many new shoots each spring, emerging from the soil near the central trunk. When their height is 10 cm, they are carefully dug up and planted in the prepared area. It is better to carry out such reproduction in late spring or early summer. It is especially important to adhere to these deadlines in the Urals and Siberia. Young plants simply will not survive the harsh winter if they do not have time to gain strength.

The division of the bush is suitable for those crop varieties that do not form daughter offspring. Well-developed delenki are used for planting.Cuttings from blackberry shoots are cut in the middle of summer. They need to be planted in loose soil. A mixture of peat and sand is suitable as a substrate. The cuttings placed in it are covered with a film. They need warmth and high humidity for rooting. They will be ready for landing on the site in a month.

Many summer residents completely in vain avoid growing blackberries. She is quite unpretentious and fruitful. Gardeners will also be pleased with the abundance of varieties of culture, among which there will certainly be one that will satisfy all the requirements. With the right approach, the shrub will bring a delicious harvest every summer. Try to plant it on the site, and its fragrant berries will become a pleasant addition to your usual diet, energize the body and provide vitamins!