Blackberry isn’t particularly fussy about soil type. But like most fruits and vegetables, it does best in moist, well-drained soil that’s rich in organic matter. If your ground has a high clay content, amend liberally with organic matter at planting time to help give your blackberry the best possible start. Prune blackberry in two waves to keep it productive. The first wave, which happens in spring, is called tip pruning because you simply cut off the top couple of inches of new growth. This encourages your blackberry plants to produce more side branches—which means more fruit. The second wave of pruning happens in late summer. Remove any stems that produced fruit; those stems won’t produce fruit the following year. Removing these spent stems will keep your blackberry patch from getting overgrown and can help reduce incidence of disease.
New Blackberry Features
Plant breeders are working hard to create new blackberry varieties that are more compact, disease resistant, or hardy.
