Laura wrote:
> The blackberries are quite a nuisance and though we love
> eating the berries the plants take over everywhere if we let
> them. I prefer picking the berries on the vacant lot where
> they run at will and grubbing these out of the yard.
Laura, if you prune the canes in late winter the berries will be larger =
and
juicier than the usual woods-edge or vacant-lot fare. I know you have a
gazillion other things to do; and if the berries are on a vacant lot, =
why
bother to manage them? But, just so you know.....
We had a tangle of them growing on an old, rotted woodchip pile left by =
the
previous owner. We cut away what we didn't want, until we were left =
with a
manageable stand -- which husband now mows around, thereby keeping the =
canes
from taking over the county. Blackberries grow randomly on our =
property,
mostly at the edges of the woods. Every year I compare my managed stand =
with
these others, and mine really are superior. Did the same with the wild
black raspberries, but the stand has lost vigor after four years, so I'm
gonna start a new one, on a rotting pile of woodchips at the edge of the
woods in a different part of the yard. I'll wander around the yard this
spring and dig up canes to start this new stand.
Pat
