Pruning blackberries can be daunting, but it’s actually very simple. They are a bramble, so many people treat them like raspberries but they can’t be. In this video I will show you how to prune blackberries for larger yields, bigger healthier plants, and a managable plant that won’t take over your garden.
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47 Comments
Thank you for this information! I like the idea of tying it up to a trellis.
The key to success is to focus on goals, not obstacles. 💪
I’m growing thornless blackberries on a cattle panel arch. The growth has gone over the arch on down the other side. How do I prune when I’m trying to cover an arch and still get good production. This is first year growth. I had some berries but a lot of vine growth.
Very good to know! I haven’t been able to grow either yet but plan to do both in the future! This probably saved me a ton from my future blackberry harvests!
My friend grows her's on a half section of cattle panel. Makes pruning a little harder but it keeps her plant neat and orderly.
Can I transplant my blackberry that I planted this past spring, from the ground into a container right now? I live in zone 5b Illinois. When is a good time?
Are boysenberries the same as blackberries?
Thank you! Helped a lot!
Thanks for the information on how to prune raspberry vines! My husband has one and we didn’t know how to prune it before this.
Do you have a video about pruning severely neglected apple trees?
HI!! My Blackberries will be one year old next April, they are pretty big, I have them on a trellis. Should I prune them this winter? Do the berries grow on the canes that grew this year, or will they grow on the new canes next year?
This was Very helpful! I planted 3 blackberries in VERY large tubs.. I live in the desert fullll of sand 😢… and have been wondering about pruning. Thank goodness I saw this cuz I probably would have cut them down low lol. Always inspiring & teach us many things.
Nevada z 5/6 here. 👵🏻👩🌾❣️
Thanks for the video! My parents have a blackberry patch along the roadside that’s on a steep slope and measures about 80 feet by 10 feet. It’s mostly a barrier, with fruit production being a nice bonus.
After several years of doing basically nothing to maintain it, they had a company cut it all to the ground as a reset. The patch had added new layers to its top every year, with the old shoots dying underneath, causing it to get taller and taller.
After the reset, the patch grew back like wild and even produced some fruit this past summer. I’ll go through and prune according to your 2:1 method (what I can reach, at least – remember, steep slope) and see how next year turns out. Maybe we’ll end up getting an enormous yield!
You actually answered a raspberry question I had. My mom has always told me over and over how my grandma would prune raspberries all the way back, but my neighbors keep pruning more like blackberries and I've wondered for a while which method is better. I also appreciate seeing the visual of the new cane vs old cane
My Blackberries were very fruitful but mostly sour. I want to know how to make sure they are sweet!
Plant those Cuttings.
My blackberry plant was growing over my fence. I pruned it too much but hopefully it will come back.
This pruning method is not quite the same if you’re pruning primeocane blackberry plants
Yessss I’ve been waiting for another blackberry upload as this year I finally began to grow boysenberry !!! Thanks!
Blackberries come in 3 cane types: erect, trailing, and semi-erect. Growth and pruning is therefore varied.🌞
Thank you, needed this
In the PNW we cut those suckers back…😂
I trellis mine on a half cattle panel right next to the house (similar location as yours), and weave them exactly the way you've mentioned. I noticed yours look like thornless, maybe Chester? I only planted last spring so they haven't fruited yet but this was a very helpful tip.
Can I ask what kind of blackberry plant that is and do you sell it?.
I did notice it is thornless
Thanks Luke! I hope to grow berries soon, and I know nothing about it. Great tips! Especially that you maintain raspberries and blackberries differently. I'd like to see you compare the two to blueberries also. Have a great weekend!
Does this work for potted blackberries?
Do you net them to keep the birds from eating all of them?
I did this by accident last year as the blackberry started escaping the berry netting and was so tangled I trimmed it back.😊
I think my raspberry died. Can you do a video on concord grapes?
Well that answers my question. While pruning back our blackberries this fall I couldn't figure out what was going on. One vine seemed to be growing out of the ground at both ends 🤔 now I know why. Thanks for that explanation. At the end of last year we dug up a strong plant that had a lot of stems cut back from previous years. But this year only wispy looking stems grew out of it. I've trimmed the long stems back to six feet and the side shoots to about half a foot. They still look fairly crowded. How many main branches should there be coming out of one "crown" for lack of a better word? If anyone can answer that please do l. Much appreciated☺️
I dont touch my blackberries and they produce tons of fruit. I let them go wild.
I wish mine wouldn't have died…. not giving up though. I will buy more as soon as I can….
Roughly how many years til the blackberry cane is done? Mine look like what you said to cut when done with 2nd year. I've been doing like the raspberries also. Didn't prune this year cuz I didn't have time but will cut back instead of off this time
So this is the time of year to trim them? The end of November? For the first time, this summer I got a raspberry bush and a blackberry bush and I'm just trying to figure them both out. Is this the time that you should trim the raspberry bush as well?
I read not to prune them till March. So we can prune now? Before I knew I had to prune, my BlackBerry bushes got about 12 fet!
I have corner posts with lateral wires around mine. Use those tomato clips to hold up the canes to the wires
I had to take my blackberries out completely. They got came blight, some kind of fungus on the leaves, misshapen berries and areas of swelling in the canes. They were no longer producing well. I didn't know what else to try. 😭
The deer took care of the pruning for me😅 I had netting around them, anything that was long and stuck out of the net, the deer ate. So, they may have helped me out because it started growing new shoots all along the stems. I just need a bigger fence next year to keep them back.
I have a 2.5 yr old plant that produced great this year. In the spring, a large growth shot up from the root ball during flowering, it was like the arm of god. It was easily getting over 10ft tall and had appendages left and right that were at least 10 ft long. It's good to know I should cut this back. It's hard to believe how big it got in one season.
It is true you need 2 blueberry plants to have fruit?
Good info! However, why are you not bleeding? My blackberries have big thorns, and the plants like to reach out to me and grab and slash as I walk by. 😁
Any sort of fertilizer? I inherited an enormous blackberry patch in an orchard on a property we just bought this fall. We pruned as you described. The former owner mentioned lime I think. I should’ve written it down.
Those must be thornless blackberry plants.
Thank you ~ now I know the difference between old canes and new and I can prune more effectively. Did you take the cuttings and root them to grow new plants??!!
Our blackberry bush is just now, after five years, starting to have leaves. Deer may have been getting it. We put a chicken wire over it and it now has leaves! Yay!
How do you prune over groan bl Kerry bush?.
Bush? Have a whole mess on the ground spreading along fence. It 6 feet tall.