There's a separate, large area in our yard where trailing blackberries are
growing. At least that is what I think they are -- plants come up, and then
vines grow radially along the ground. Trouble is, they keep going,
wandering into each other and on to the footpaths.
My question is -- should I be trying to control them and, if so, how? Train
them to a trellis? Maybe draw the vines in, curl them around the base
plant, and let them grow in a mound?
Thanks in advance,
Pat
Patricia Ruggiero wrote:
Pat
Blackberries can be very nice for fruit, but if uncontrolled can very
soon take over a whole yard -and some.
Their main means of colonization is a bit like strawberries - sending
out long running stems whose tips root down very readily.
(There is a saying here that there is only one blackberry bush in NZ
-five hundred miles long and 200 wide - or something to that effect.)
People who grow them in gardens usually do put the canes up on trellises
largely in self defence, training just a few in a fan shape or along
wires or something similar, and firmly cutting of the surplus. New canes
will grow over summer and can be tied in a loose bunch to one side.
After fruiting, although the canes do not always die off like
raspberries, better crops result from cutting them down and tying in
new ones. (A bit like dealing with climbing roses of the HT group).
If you want to keep a few and your patch is a real tamgle I would
suggest cutting everything to the ground and when they start to sprout
again chosing a few clumps to train and grubbing the rest.
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan
Wainuiomata, New Zealand. (on the "Ring of Fire" in the SW Pacific).
Lat. 41:16S Long. 174:58E. Climate: Mediterranean/Temperate
Moira, thanks for your comments. What with these, and the helpful
suggestions of various others, the bramble fruit picture has become much
clearer.
Yes, indeed, the patch is a real tangle right now. It's an area about 30' x
30' of wood chips left over when the previous owner had some work done on
trees felled by ice storms. We didn't know what would come up, and now the
area is mostly covered by trailing blackberries over top of which are
growing black raspberries. (BTW, none of those square-stemmed blackberries
have put in an appearance in this patch, although they are scattered
everywhere else in our yard.) I'm going to evaluate it carefully, seeing
where to thin to create walkways and make the patch, in general, more
accessible.
At least mainly bramble fruits appeared in this wood chip pile. Another,
much bigger pile is host to that &^%$#%^&@# honeysuckle and poison ivy,
about which you all have heard me lament many times.
Pat
Behalf Of Tony & Moira Ryan
Sent: Sunday, June 25, 2000 10:14 PM
To: OGL@LSV.UKY.EDU
Subject: Re: trailing blackberries
Patricia Ruggiero wrote:
> There's a separate, large area in our yard where trailing blackberries are
> growing. At least that is what I think they are -- plants come up, and
then
> vines grow radially along the ground. Trouble is, they keep going,
> wandering into each other and on to the footpaths.
> My question is -- should I be trying to control them and, if so, how?
Train
> them to a trellis? Maybe draw the vines in, curl them around the base
> plant, and let them grow in a mound?
> Thanks in advance,
Pat
Blackberries can be very nice for fruit, but if uncontrolled can very
soon take over a whole yard -and some.
Their main means of colonization is a bit like strawberries - sending
out long running stems whose tips root down very readily.
(There is a saying here that there is only one blackberry bush in NZ
-five hundred miles long and 200 wide - or something to that effect.)
People who grow them in gardens usually do put the canes up on trellises
largely in self defence, training just a few in a fan shape or along
wires or something similar, and firmly cutting of the surplus. New canes
will grow over summer and can be tied in a loose bunch to one side.
After fruiting, although the canes do not always die off like
raspberries, better crops result from cutting them down and tying in
new ones. (A bit like dealing with climbing roses of the HT group).
If you want to keep a few and your patch is a real tamgle I would
suggest cutting everything to the ground and when they start to sprout
again chosing a few clumps to train and grubbing the rest.
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan
Wainuiomata, New Zealand. (on the "Ring of Fire" in the SW Pacific).
Lat. 41:16S Long. 174:58E. Climate: Mediterranean/Temperate
