Growing Raspberries and Blackberries in a Home Garden

Note: Dwarf raspberry cultivars, like Raspberry Shortcake®, are available for growing in containers.

Notes: Dwarf blackberry cultivars, like Baby Cakes, are available for growing in containers. Other well-adapted thornless cultivars for Maryland include Apache, Arapaho, Navaho, Osage, Von, Triple Crown, Chester, and Hull. The latter three are trailing-type cultivars, producing very long canes.

Location and spacing 

• Choose a planting site at least 300 feet from wild brambles, a potential source of diseases.
• Although bramble growth and productivity tends to be best in full sun, in warmer regions of Maryland, raspberry plants may benefit from light summer shade in the late afternoon.
• When planting in rows, red raspberry plants should be spaced 2 feet apart within the row; black and purple raspberry plants 3 feet apart; and blackberry plants 3-4 feet apart.
• Allow for 8 feet between rows if planting multiple rows.

Timing and technique

• Brambles can be sold potted or bare-root (either at local garden centers or mail-ordered). Those propagated from tissue-culture (TC) might not yet be acclimated to freezing temperatures when sold, and should be planted after the last spring frost.
• Lay the roots of bare-root plants horizontally in a 2-3 inch deep trench and cover them with soil.
• Old, dead canes attached to bare-root plants should be pruned off. New growth will come from the roots and crown.
• Remove flowers during the first year to encourage plant establishment.

Supporting stems

• All bramble plants, including those that are described as self-supporting (erect), will benefit from a sturdy trellis. This makes harvesting easier, especially on thorny-stemmed varieties, and reduces the sprawl of plants that might otherwise tip-root as stems arch down to the ground.
• Loosely tie individual canes to horizontal wires, or train canes to grow between two horizontal wires (called a T-trellis).

Suppressing weeds

• Remove weeds and turfgrass between and around raspberry plants. A weed-free zone:
  • promotes rapid drying of leaves and fruit after rain and irrigation, which decreases the incidence of diseases
  • reduces root competition for water and nutrients
  • discourages pest insects that can be harbored by weeds

All bramble plants require annual renovation pruning – removing dead canes that have fruited to make room for new shoots from the roots or crown. Renovation pruning maintains the vigor of the plants and aids in disease and insect suppression. 

Floricane-bearing plants 

• When plants are dormant, remove the dead floricanes that fruited the previous season. 
• Thin first-year raspberry shoots (primocanes) to a 6-inch spacing near the base (crown) of the plant. Blackberry stemsshould be thinned to 3-4 strong primocanes. 
• Primocanes are also “tipped” at a 3-4 foot height to encourage lateral (side) shoots to form. The laterals are shorted to an 18 inch length for maximum fruiting.
• When removing dead, fruited canes or excess primocanes, make the cuts at ground level so that the dead stubs do not protrude where they can harbor canker-causing fungi. Remove all pruning waste from the planting area. 
• During the growing season, prune out wilted, injured, and weak canes.
• Red raspberry rows should be kept under 18 inches in width to help maximize airflow and keep the lower canopy dry.

Primocane-bearing plants

• Two-crop method: After harvest, prune back first-year canes just below the lowest laterals. In late spring, flowers and fruits will form on new laterals that will grow from buds on the overwintered canes. The second-year spring harvest will be significantly less than the first-year, late-summer harvest.

In spring, thin new shoots (primocanes). Remove the second-year canes (floricanes) when they are finished fruiting. Primocanes are “tipped” at a 3-4 foot height to encourage lateral shoots to form. The laterals are shorted to a 12-18 inch length for maximum fruiting.

• One-crop method: When plants are dormant, prune out at ground level all the dead canes that fruited the previous season. In late spring, thin new shoots to a 6-inch spacing at the base. Primocanes are “tipped” at a 3-4 ft. height to encourage lateral shoots to form. The laterals are shortened to a 12-18 inch length for maximum fruiting.
  
  This method is preferred by most gardeners. The annual yield is higher and the plants are more manageable.

Resources

(Video) Blackberry Pruning Demonstration | University of Kentucky

(Video) How Do I Prune Raspberries? | University of Maine

(Video) Pruning Raspberries | University of Nebraska

• If possible, harvest in the morning after dew has dried and temperatures are still cool. Fruits harvested late in the day have retained heat that reduces storage life. 
• Harvest fruit regularly to reduce the incidence of fruit rot and to prevent sap beetles and plant bugs from feeding on ripening berries.
• Ripe berries will detach easily. With blackberries, the receptacle (white inner core) stays with the harvested fruit. With raspberries, the core remains attached to the plant. Pick blackberries when the fruits lose their shine and become dull.
• Since they are delicate, fruits should be rolled off the plant, rather than squeezed or pulled, and put in shallow containers.
• Bramble fruits will continue to ripen and develop flavors after harvest, but will not get any sweeter. Refrigerate berries immediately, and only rinse them just prior to consuming or cooking them. Chilled raspberries will last about a week; blackberries will keep several days longer.

• Root cuttings (3-4 inch sections of roots) of raspberry and blackberry can be planted 2-3 inches deep in  flats or containers filled with soilless growing media. The cuttings can be planted out once new shoots begin to emerge. 
• Root suckers can be removed and planted in pots or new garden locations. They will require frequent watering until they establish on new roots. 
• Long shoots will naturally bend over and root where the shoot tip touches bare soil. Several weeks later a new plant will grow where the shoot tip has rooted. Use a shovel or pruners to separate the new daughter plant and its roots from the mother plant. Black raspberry tip-roots readily. The shoot tipps of other bramble types can be bent over and held to the ground with a rock, brick, or landscape staple.
• Propagate only healthy, disease-free plants.

Several diseases can infect bramble plants and reduce their vigor and productivity. These include fungal infections like spur blight, cane blight, anthracnose, orange rust (on blackberry and black raspberry only), and late rust (red raspberry only), plus some viruses.

Common bramble insect pests include Japanese beetles, several borers, and spotted-wing drosophila.

Japanese beetle adults are metallic coppery-brown and green in color and about a half-inch-long. They often feed in large numbers, damaging the fruit and skeletonizing the foliage, giving leaves a lacy appearance.

Sunburn (also called white drupelet disorder) of bramble fruit may occur during periods of dry, sunny, breezy, hot weather. Excess ultraviolet radiation scalds the fruit. Individual drupelets become hard and bleached-looking, being white or tan in color. If a small percentage of the drupelets are affected, the fruit is still edible and can also be used in recipes.

Resources

(PDF) Cane Diseases of Brambles | University of Kentucky

Raspberry Cane Diseases | University of Minnesota

Controlling Raspberry Cane Borers | Michigan State University

Raspberry Anthracnose | University of Wisconsin

Late Leaf Rust of Red Raspberries | Ohio State University

Pest Management Guide (click Home Fruit) | Virginia Cooperative Extension