Edit for clarity: these are from Pense Berry Farm and I believe are shipped as bare root
I put in the leg work to figure out how to get the largest harvest window for blackberries and decided to put them a very sunny location in my yard; we're talking 100% sun all day at the peak of summer and 8+ hours in the winter. Everyone said the more sun the better, that is until I saw a comment from someone in my zone, 9b, explaining that their blackberries don't take the heat well and those that get afternoon shade do much better.
Now, I'm not sure what to do and these are coming in any day. Here are the options that I know of:
- Containers – Could be temporary or permanent, but definitely the easiest option since I can just get some 30gal container, appropriate potting soil, and call it a day; definitely kicking the can down the road. This would also give me the flexibility try different spots in the yard for planting in ground later.
- In ground – I could put them straight in ground in two places in my yard:
- I have a row that going east to west that gets ~5hr of full sun in the summer; western most spot from 8am-1pm and eastern most spot 9:30am-2:30pm then 3-4 hours of shade under a black willow before the sun goes below my fence. 5 hours of sun would probably be okay to get fruit but I want my berries sweet sweet. Another worry here is I only have ~20ft so I would need to make 2 rows to fit all of them and at that point they may be shading each other out.
- I have a 6ft space between my western most vegetable raised beds and my fence. It runs north-south ~20ft. This spot is never shaded by the tree so you can add back most of the shade hours from the spot above minus losing an hour or so of afternoon sun, lets say at least 7hrs in summer. My worries here:
- 6ft isn't enough clearance for the bushes – I either choose more access by planting them as close to the fence as possible or choose to give the plants more space and really limit my ability to get to the bushes and my raised beds.
- 10ft of those raised beds is used for growing plants up 8ft of trellis – did indeterminate tomatoes there last year and doing cucumbers and mini water melons there now – so by early summer, it will be mostly shade in that 10ft. I am considering adjusting my setup next year, and could take the berries into consideration though.
On top of the blackberry plants. I also have six southern highbush blueberry plants that I'll have in 30 gal containers in the mix; I'm already planning on just moving those around as necessary, so I'm leaning towards containers. I could also just do a mix of everything since I have 9 plants!
I would appreciate your input!
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3 Comments
https://preview.redd.it/h2jx0z7kg0tg1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d2a455a6848006cbcca611d4e2a5a057e01d1958
My Natchez blackberry last year at two years old in a container.
It’s first year it had max a 2 foot tall starter vine. The longest one measured like 15 feet last year.
I use a tomatoe trellis and wrap the vines around.
Was in 8b-8a full sun
I’m in 9B Tucson AZ and grow both blackberries and blueberries. My blackberries are in an area that receives full sun, but I’ve found that the intense sun here will damage/dry/burn berries without some shade. I rigged up a retractable 90% shade trellis top cover and a 50% shade cloth “curtain” to protect against the harsh western sun: [https://imgur.com/a/tcWwGWQ](https://imgur.com/a/tcWwGWQ) . The 6 blackberries are planted in a 2x20ft raised bed with a 4 wire I trellis system with drip irrigation. If you’re considering planting near a fence/wall (like I did), I would suggest keeping the canes 3-6ft away from the wall so you can walk/prune/access/harvest both sides of the canes.
The blueberries are in a different area in two 4×8 raised beds with a custom peat moss blend soil, mulch and nearly full time shade from a mesquite tree. Also on drip and fed yearly with elemental sulfur and azalea fertilizer. I have both southern highbush and rabbiteye low chill hour varieties I’m testing out.
Use spot 2. That’ll get you ample light (assuming no other shade sources) and afternoon shade (I’m assuming when you say “western” that the backyard side of the fence is facing the east). You’re probably going to have a fun time with 9 plants. You might also consider putting some of the prime arks in containers and using cages or per-container trellis setups since they apparently are strong upright growers rather than semi-upright or trellis-dependent.
BTW: IMO 30 gal for the highbush plants is probably overkill. You could grow them in 15-25, depending on variety.