FRANKLIN CO., Pa. — Brambles are a group of plants in the genus Rubus that includes raspberries and blackberries. For the home gardener, brambles can be one of the easier and more rewarding fruits to grow. The aroma of a warm sun-ripened raspberry or the flavor of a just-picked ripe blackberry is not something you will get from berries purchased at the supermarket.
Given the generally high cost of small containers of raspberries and blackberries at the store, you might think they are difficult to grow, but such is not the case. If you follow some basic guidelines for location, selection, planting, and maintenance, you can enjoy the fruits of your labor for years to come.
Brambles are plants with a perennial root system that produces biennial canes, also called shoots or stems. The perennial root systems can live 10 years or more, but the individual canes last only two years, during which time they grow, flower, fruit, and then die. The first-year canes, called primocanes, generally produce only vegetative growth (leaves and buds) and then overwinter; in their second year, they are called floricanes because they flower and produce fruit, after which the cane dies. The root system produces new primocanes each year to replace the spent floricanes.
The exceptions to this growth cycle are primocane-fruiting varieties, also called everbearing, which produce flowers and fruit near the tips of primocanes during the first season of growth. If the canes are left to grow during the second season, flowers and fruit will appear lower on the cane, after which the cane dies.
This fruiting habit, either primocane- or floricane-bearing, is important to understand for selecting and maintaining different varieties in your garden.
Raspberries are available in red, black, purple, and yellow varieties. Red raspberries are generally more cold-hardy and disease resistant than other types of raspberries, and you will find many available cultivars (cultivated varieties) of both summer-fruiting (floricane) and primocane-fruiting (everbearing) types. New varieties with superior traits are being developed and released every year, but some older cultivars are still considered the standard for that fruit, against which other cultivars are compared. For instance, ‘Heritage’ is the traditional standard for primocane-fruiting red raspberries, producing high yields of medium-sized fruits with excellent color and flavor, good for freezing, in late summer through fall on vigorous, long-lived plants.
Blackberries come in thorny and thornless varieties, and erect, semi-erect, or trailing canes. The thorns can be vicious to work around, so for the home gardener, thornless varieties might be an easier option, producing delicious fruit on second-year floricanes. Recommended cultivars for Pennsylvania include ‘Natchez’, which produces large, early-season fruit with excellent flavor on semi-erect canes.
Most brambles are self-fruitful, that is, they will set fruit without cross-pollination. However, allowing pollinators such as bees to visit flowers when they are in bloom will result in more abundant crops of larger, well-shaped fruit. Selecting more than one variety, to include early, middle, and late-season ripening fruits, can also increase the harvest.
Here are some general guidelines for site, selection, planting, and care of brambles.
- Brambles grow best in areas with full sunlight. Allow plenty of room for good air circulation.
- Brambles are adaptable to a range of soil conditions, but ideally, the soil should be well-drained, fertile, and moisture-retentive. Adding organic matter before planting will help to achieve these soil conditions. They prefer a slightly acidic pH between 6 and 7 but are not as particular about soil pH as blueberries. A soil test before planting can provide guidance regarding any amendments and fertilizer needs.
- Avoid planting in areas with saturated soil or standing water, and areas that are susceptible to frost pockets (such as at the bottom of a slope) in spring.
- Avoid planting in areas where you previously grew tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, or eggplants, which may harbor Verticillium wilt, a soil-borne disease that can also infect brambles. Do not plant new brambles in an area where brambles previously grew.
- Keep your bramble planting at least 300 feet away from any wild-growing bramble patches.
- Be sure to purchase only plants that are certified disease-free or tissue-cultured. As kind as the offer may be, do not accept any brambles dug from a friend’s or neighbor’s patch, which will likely result in introducing long-lasting soil-borne disease problems into your garden patch.
- Brambles are generally grown in rows, with wide spacing of 10 to 12 feet between the rows to allow for mowing and ease of maintenance. Spacing of plants within the row depends on the type of bramble you are growing.
- Spring planting is preferable, as soon as the soil is ready and workable (friable, not too wet and not too cold). Brambles are shallow-rooted and do not compete well with weeds. A mulch of 2 to 3 inches of shredded leaves, sawdust, or straw will help with weed control and retention of soil moisture. Keep the mulch a few inches away from direct contact with the canes.
- Brambles may need supplemental watering if rainfall does not provide at least 1 inch of water per week during the growing season. Water is especially important during summer flowering, summer fruit ripening, and fall bud development. Avoid overhead watering to help keep foliage and stems dry; instead, use watering methods directed to the root zone in the soil, such as watering wands, soaker hoses, or drip irrigation.
- Pruning is an essential task to maintain your brambles; the type of pruning needed will depend on the type of bramble you are growing. For more information about pruning, see https://extension.psu.edu/pruning-brambles-in-home-fruit-plantings.
For a great deal more information and greater details about selecting, growing, and managing not only raspberries and blackberries, but also many other fruits suitable for the home gardener, from apples to gooseberries, there are a couple of excellent Extension publications available for purchase online:
Fruit Production for the Home Gardener (Penn State Extension): https://extension.psu.edu/fruit-production-for-the-home-gardener
Midwest Home Fruit Production Guide (Ohio State): https://extensionpubs.osu.edu/midwest-home-fruit-production-guide/
Despite the name, the fruit of raspberries and blackberries is not actually a berry. Botanically, it is an aggregate fruit made up of many small drupelets attached to a receptacle. When fully ripe, a raspberry easily pulls away from the receptacle, leaving it behind, so the fruit has a hollow interior, like a thimble. In contrast, a ripe blackberry remains attached to the receptacle and detaches at its stem. Blackberries will also lose their shiny color, becoming dull at peak ripeness. But the best way to tell if the fruit is fully ripe is to taste a few for peak sweetness before harvesting. Raspberries and blackberries are fragile and perishable, so it is best to harvest frequently and enjoy daily, whether fresh out-of-hand, in pies or cobblers, or preserved in the freezer or as jams for a taste of summer in the depths of winter.
–Annette MaCoy, Master Gardener
Penn State Extension Franklin County
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