Shrub · Rosaceae
Blackberry
Rubus fruticosus
Give it full sun and a little room to ramble, and a blackberry will hand you buckets of fruit for years to come.
Full sun
Every 3–7 days
USDA 5–9
3–10 ft · 0.9–3 m
Overview
Blackberries are one of the friendliest fruits a first-timer can take on, so take heart. The plant is a bramble in the rose family, sending up long arching canes that root wherever they brush the ground. Plant one and, given its head, it will cheerfully try to claim a corner of the garden for itself.
What makes a blackberry work is the way its canes live across two seasons, and once it clicks it is genuinely simple. A cane spends its first year as a leafy primocane, then fruits the next year as a floricane before fading. Learn that rhythm and the pruning stops feeling like guesswork, while the harvest keeps coming.
These are tough, cold-hardy plants that give a lot for very little effort, which is exactly why they suit a nervous beginner. Offer them sun, decent soil, and one yearly tidy-up, and you will be picking warm berries by the handful come midsummer. The one thing to plan for is space, since a content patch spreads quickly.
Care
The short version: give it full sun, deep and well-drained soil, and roughly an inch or two of water each week. Take out the old fruited canes once a year and leave the plant plenty of room to wander, and you will do just fine.
Light
Blackberries fruit best in full sun, so aim for six or more hours a day. They will put up with a little afternoon shade, but the more sun you can give them, the sweeter and heavier your berries.
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist but never waterlogged, and the plant will reward you. That works out to roughly 1 to 2 inches of water a week, with a little extra while it is flowering and filling out its fruit, since a dry stretch then can leave you with small, crumbly berries.
Soil
Settle them into deep, well-drained loam with plenty of organic matter mixed in. A pH between 5.5 and 7.0 keeps them content, and good drainage means far less worry about root and cane disease.
Temperature
Blackberries are real troupers, shrugging off winters down to -4°F (-20°C) and summers up to 95°F (35°C). They are at home in hardiness zones 5 through 9, so most gardeners can grow them with no fuss or protection.
Humidity
Ordinary outdoor humidity of 40% to 70% suits them just fine. Moving air matters more than the number on a gauge, since still, damp air around crowded canes is what gives rust and blight their opening.
Feeding
Feed once in early spring as new growth wakes up, using a balanced 10-10-10 or a nitrogen-rich complete fertilizer. That single seasonal feeding is usually all the canes need to see them through fruiting.
Pruning
The canes are biennial, so pruning simply follows their two-year rhythm. Cut the spent floricanes right to the ground after harvest, tip-prune the primocanes in summer to coax out fruiting laterals, and thin the patch back to a handful of strong canes.
Repotting
Blackberries are happiest in the ground rather than a pot, so repotting rarely comes up. If you do grow one in a container, move it up when the roots start circling or growth slows and the soil dries out fast.
Size & spacing
Canes climb 3 to 10 feet (90 cm to 3 m) tall and spread about as wide. Give each plant that much room to arch and sucker, both to keep air flowing and to stop the patch from leaning on its neighbors.
When to plant
Blackberries like to go in while they are still asleep. Set out bare-root or potted canes in late winter to early spring once the hard frosts have eased, look for blooms in late spring, and gather ripe berries right through the warmth of July and August.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: Set out dormant bare-root or container canes in late winter to early spring after danger of hard frost has passed.
- Harvest: Blooms in late spring; berries ripen mid to late summer (typically July to August).
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 5–9
Temperature: down to -29°C
Troubleshooting
Most blackberry hiccups turn up on the canes or the fruit, and a gentle stroll through the patch catches them early, so there is no need to fret. Find what matches below, then step in before a fungus or a mite gets comfortable.
Bright orange dust along the underside of the leaves
Try not to feel discouraged if you spot this, because it is orange rust, a fungus that has worked its way through the whole plant rather than resting on the surface. Sadly, once those orange spores appear a cane cannot bounce back, and it keeps passing the trouble along. The kindest fix for the rest of your patch is to lift that plant out completely, roots and all, and keep it well away from the compost.
Fix:
- Dig out and destroy entire infected plants including roots
- Do not compost infected material
Dark splitting marks on a cane with dieback above them
When a cane shows splitting marks and the growth above it wilts, the cause is usually cane blight and anthracnose, fungi that creep into a wound and choke the cane from the inside. It looks worse than it is, so simply prune well below the marked spot and open the patch up so air can move through. Just remember to cut on a dry day, since a fresh wound in wet weather is exactly the doorway the fungus wants.
Fix:
- Prune out and destroy affected canes below the lesion
- Thin canes to improve air circulation
Small lopsided berries with hard red bumps that never soften
If some of the little druplets plump up while others stay hard and red, the everyday cause is poor pollination, though a redberry mite or a virus can leave the same lopsided fruit. The reassuring news is that it is fixable, so plant a few flowers nearby to bring in more bees, and reach for horticultural oil if mites turn out to be the culprit. Should you suspect a virus, the gentlest path for the rest of the patch is to pull that plant and start fresh.
Fix:
- Encourage pollinator activity near the planting
- Apply horticultural oil to manage mites
Toxicity
You can breathe easy here, because there is no poison to worry about. The berries, leaves, and canes are safe for people, pets, and livestock, and the fruit is a happy treat for all of them. The only genuine hazard is a physical one, since most blackberries carry sharp thorns that can scratch skin and snag fur.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
You can relax around a curious cat here, because nothing in the plant will poison one. The only thing worth a gentle eye is the thorns, which might scratch an inquisitive paw or nose.
Dogs None
A dog is welcome to the ripe berries, and plenty of them adore the taste. A big greedy mouthful can lead to a loose tummy, so it helps to keep the helpings small and let everyone enjoy it.
Horses Safe
Horses can graze the leaves and fruit happily with nothing to fear. The thing to mind is the sharp canes, since they can nick a soft muzzle.
Rabbits Safe
Both leaves and fruit are perfectly safe, and rabbits love a nibble of the foliage. Go easy with the berries, though, because that sugar is a lot for such a little body.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep can browse brambles to their heart's content, and a goat will gladly clear a whole thicket. None of it will do them any harm.
Birds Safe
Wild birds adore ripe blackberries and carry the seeds far and wide as they go. There is nothing in the fruit to trouble them.
People Safe
Blackberries are a beloved treat, lovely eaten fresh or cooked, and the young leaves have long made a soothing tea. Just watch the thorns while you pick and you will be fine.
The main hazard is physical rather than chemical: most wild and cultivated blackberries bear sharp thorns (prickles) along the canes that can scratch skin or injure pets, though thornless cultivars such as 'Navaho' and 'Apache' exist and are safer to handle.
Varieties
Hundreds of blackberries are out there, sorted mostly into upright and trailing types, so there is plenty to choose from. These three are worth getting to know, including a pair bred to leave the thorns behind.
Navaho
A thornless, upright pick from the University of Arkansas and USDA breeding work, this one rewards you with sweet, firm berries on canes you can hold without a single scratch.
Marionberry
This trailing blackberry came from Oregon State University by crossing Chehalem with Olallie, and it has stayed a treasured favorite all across the Pacific Northwest.
Apache
Another easygoing thornless upright, this one wins hearts with its very large fruit and its strong resistance to disease.
Companions
Blackberries do best kept apart from their own relatives and from the nightshade family, since both trade diseases that brambles are prone to.
Keep apart
Raspberry and other Rubus: Planting close to other brambles spreads shared diseases such as orange rust and viruses.
Tomato, potato, and other Solanaceae: They share susceptibility to Verticillium wilt, so avoid planting blackberries where solanaceous crops recently grew.
How to propagate
Blackberries are a joy to multiply, and a single plant gives you several easy ways to do it. Layering and division need almost no experience, while cuttings simply ask for a bit of patience.
LayeringEasy
Late summer · Roots form in 6 to 8 weeks; transplant the following spring
Trailing types do most of the work for you here. Come late summer, bend a cane tip down to bare soil and pin it gently, and roots will settle in within about 6 to 8 weeks. Leave the young plant joined to its parent over winter, then lift it the following spring when it is ready.
DivisionEasy
Late winter to early spring while dormant · One growing season
An established clump kindly sends up rooted suckers around its base. Dig a few of those out, or split a whole crown, in late winter to early spring while the plant is dormant, then settle them back in right away. Allow each piece one growing season to find its feet before you look for a proper crop.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Winter for root cuttings or summer for softwood cuttings · Several weeks to a few months
Cuttings ask a touch more patience than the other two, but they are well within reach. Take root cuttings in winter or softwood cuttings in summer, and let rooting take its time, anywhere from several weeks to a few months. Root cuttings are how nurseries usually build up the upright kinds.
Myths
Blackberries and raspberries are the same fruit since both are brambles.
It is an easy mix-up, since both sit in the genus Rubus, but the fruit gives the answer. A picked blackberry holds onto its white core, the little plug known as the receptacle, while a raspberry pulls away and leaves that core on the plant, which is exactly why a raspberry feels hollow.
Every blackberry has thorns.
Thorns are common, sure, but they are no longer a given. Plenty of newer cultivars like Navaho and Apache come fully thornless and crop every bit as well, so you can grow and gather blackberries without ever drawing blood.