When it comes to blackberries, perspective is everything. For those who grew up on farms, the berries would sprawl across the land and grow feral. They’d eat up anything that entered – kites, footballs, the pet dog – but in return they would throw up a feast that was unparalleled.
For city folk, on the other hand, berries are an often expensive and therefore rare treat. So it makes sense to grow as many as you can in the veggie patch.
Although aggressive growers, that are often full of aggressive thorns, there are more domesticated varieties of blackberries that are apt at keeping their shit together in a small space and relatively thornless. Ahhh evolution.
PLANTING
Dig a hole roughly 20cm wide and deep, place the root zone in the hole and then cover them over with soil until ground level is restored. Make sure that the cane is vertical and then water in with fish fertiliser or seaweed extract. Mulch with either pea straw or lucerne hay to a depth of 2-3cm immediately after watering.
WATERING
In ground: Water daily for the first 4 weeks and 3-4 times a week in the absence of rainfall thereafter.
In Pots: Water daily, in the absence of rainfall, for the entirety of the warm season, and then cut back to watering every second day during the cooler times of the year.
MAINTENANCE
Mulch well to retain soil moisture and suppress weeds, but keep away from the trunk to prevent rot. Apply an all-round fertiliser to soil when growth begins in early spring. Canes that have died or bared fruit in the past season should be cut down at ground level during winter.
HARVESTING
Time until first harvest: although new canes may produce some berries in the first year, it will take at least 1-2 of growth until you get some meaningful fruit
How to harvest: let blackberries ripen on the plant and then gently pull from the cluster using ‘soft hands’ as opposed to the ‘oversized brute hands’ you normally enlist for help
TIP
Ask your local nursery for erect cultivars. These varieties are much easier to manage, as they can be cut back right to the ground each year. Thornless varieties should also be available.
