Blackberry

[Durgan]

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?KXDQI 30 May 2010 Blackberry (thornless)

This is the third year for these two thornless blackberries, and the first full harvest is expected. The plants are loaded with flowers.There were many honey bees sampling the flowers, which were most welcome. The name was not on the cultivars when I purchased, so have no idea of the variety (anybody know?). A few berries were sampled last year and they were excellent in flavor and size. The trellis is two, 4 by 8 foot reinforcing concrete wires with six inch squares. The plants are well mulched, and I throw a five gallon of rainwater on the roots periodically.

[agedgardener2]

Do you expect to get enough berries from 2 plants to make jam or jelly? JOY

[Durgan]

Do you expect to get enough berries from 2 plants to make jam or jelly? JOY

There are a lot of blooms, and this is the first production year. I usually eat the berries raw, not being a fan of jam or jelly.

[dogmatique]

Hi Durgan

I love blackberries and have planted around 10 thornless but 2 different varieties on a hill side at the back of our yard. This area gets full sun most of the day. I got sick of mowing it. It was hard work going up and down the hill. This year, I've added rebar and wire to help the blackberries spread nicely and to keep a bit under control. It is their 3rd year and I have more plants sprouting on their own. Because the plants are thornless, I don't care if they take over a bit. I am so looking forward to putting some blackberries in the freezer. Our kids love blackberry milkshakes.

I call this hill, berry hill cause I have around 20 blueberry bushes, a couple hardy kiwi, and a gooseberry there too. I am experimenting with mulching. I've had the hill covered in black plastic and want to remove it now that all the lawn is gone so I'm using some straw and cardboard to see if it stays in place (I have 4 standard poodles who love to run through this area) and some hardy ground cover (moss, ajuga, and sedium). I will have to battle weeding it this year but hopefully I'll be able to see what works best, especially over winter. I didn't want to plant the ground cover and not have it come back.

Dogmatique
Zone 5
BC

[RubyTuesday49]

Zone 6 - I have 2 thornless blackberry bushes! They are awesome! I cannot believe the size of some of the blackberries - over 1 1/2" long by 1 to 1 1/4" wide!! Sometimes I would pop a lovely fat ripe one - warm from the sun, into my mouth and OMG it was so delish!!! They can grow 20' in one year so I prune mine back quite strongly. This is the third summer and I had a huge yield this year from beginning of July til now - Sept. but they are almost finished now. (lots in the freezer for winter!)

[Jersm]

I found a crap load of black berry and rasberry bushes un the wild. I was thinking of harvesting some younger plants and putting them in my backyard.

[RubyTuesday49]

If the blackberry bushes aren't the "thornless" ones, I wouldn't plant them!! They are horrid nasty things! The thornless are so nice - totally smooth - and they produce huge berries. They also grow like crazy but you can just prune them back!

[Countryboy]

(I have 4 standard poodles who love to run through this area)
Zone 5
BC

Four??? Wow! That's serious MPS - Multiple Poodle Syndrome. lol

[davefrombc]

I would not plant wild blackberries if they are the heavily thorned variety we have here. They are very vigorous and invasive..They are a major problem here. Their fruit is very good and healthful, but their growth habits make them a real problem to try to manage. Do yourself a favour , get some of the thornless domestic varieties to garden. Wild raspberries are fine, but smaller than domestic varieties. I have no idea how well they transplant . For the price of canes, I'd go with buying some domestic varieties to plant . You'll get bigger berries and a more consistent crop.

[B_BQ]

Wow! This is a thread that was started in May 2010 by Durgan, a former forum member, who rattled so many and got into so many disagreements that he left eventually in a huff. Shame really, as he was a great source of information, but he was very 'prickly'.

I personally love the wild blackberries. Yes, the thorns are spiteful, but I think the flavour of the fruit is much more intense; rather like comparing a wild blueberry and a cultivated blueberry.

They grew wild in England too, usually close to a canal, and when the time came our mother would send us off with lots of containers to pick as many as possible. We probably ate as many as we picked, but we always brought back enough for her to make many jars of blackberry jam. Still one of my favourite jams.

~BBQ