Features of caring for blackberries in autumn

Features of caring for blackberries

In the first year after planting, young bushes will not yield a crop. This time is intended to actively build up shoots.

If the bush was planted in the spring, experienced summer residents recommend removing all the inflorescences that the blackberry will give. This will help the plant not to waste vitality, but to develop a good root system for winter.

If the bush has been living on your site for the second year already, it needs to be fed at the moment when flowering begins. Fertilizer will add vitality to the bush. But be careful - beware of excess feeding. An oversupply of fertilizer can lead to the development of bush diseases.

All summer, and especially in August, when the fruits begin to ripen, the blackberries need to be actively looked after - regularly loosen the soil around the roots, water as needed, rid the area where the bushes were planted from weeds.

Features of care in the first year of growth

It's no secret that the garden blackberry is a shrub with a two-year cycle: the first year of the shoot's life is intended for its active development, the second for no less active fruiting. Unfortunately, he will not have another chance to prove himself: immediately after the end of the harvest, such shoots are pruned. If this is not done in the fall, the old branches will only thicken the bush and waste its vitality, without yielding a crop.

As already mentioned, if the crop was planted in the spring, caring for the seedlings in the first summer of life consists in watering, weeding and loosening the soil. But in the fall you will have to work hard. Preparation for winter begins with the pruning of all weakened or elongated shoots.

Although blackberries are considered a winter-tolerant crop, young shoots need shelter from the cold. This is done as follows: in the fall, after the pruning has been carried out, all the remaining branches of the bush are gently tilted to the ground and carefully fixed in this position. After that, over the entire site, a shelter is constructed from spruce branches, fallen leaves or insulation. It is in this state that the garden blackberry will wait out the cold winter, no additional care will be required this year.

Formation from the second year of growth

In the fall, in the second year of the life of the bush, pruning of fruiting shoots is also performed for the winter - this is the most important care for the blackberry.

Plants need pruning for several reasons:

• old shoots take away nutrients from young shoots, wasting the vitality of the bush for nothing to maintain it;
• if pruning is not carried out for the winter, and the old shoots remain on the bush, the berries will get less sunlight, respectively, the yield will decrease;
• if the blackberry is heavily thickened, its preparation for winter becomes noticeably more complicated - lush bushes of garden blackberries are difficult to place in a shelter;
• on those bushes where pruning was not carried out on time, it is difficult to harvest: the berries are not visible, and if you cultivate a variety with thorns, you risk getting severely injured;
• if preparation for winter does not involve pruning old shoots, the future harvest of berries may suffer (the fact is that the removal of old branches for the winter stimulates the development of young shoots).

Scheme for pruning old branches that have already borne fruit

Pruning and shortening stems

Caring for blackberries and preparing them for winter necessarily includes the following steps, in addition to removing old shoots:

• carefully examine young lashes and remove those that seem weak, frail or short;
• if the care of the plants at some point was insufficient, and you noticed traces of the vital activity of pests, be sure to remove the damaged areas: they still cannot survive the winter cold;
• shorten all quality shoots about a quarter of their length. This will stimulate good flowering in the coming season;
• caring for blackberries before the onset of winter is also about selecting the right viable whips. Leave only about 8 of the strongest branches, since this is exactly the amount that the root system of the bush can feed. Sometimes the number of shoots is increased - in case not all the lashes overwinter.

Final normalization of shoots

When the winter cold has finally passed, we open the blackberry bushes and again study the state of the whip. Those sprouts that have been provided with decent care, after warming in the sun, they will be elastic, brown and shiny, while the frozen areas will turn black, brittle and friable. No care will help such shoots, they must be ruthlessly removed. If it happens that at least six shoots overwinter on a bush - this is a great success, if at least four lashes remain - also a good result. But if after wintering a blackberry bush consists of only three shoots - of course, the yield will be slightly lower, but on the other hand, such a bush will give berries, unlike large ones.

On average, a blackberry bush can live in one place for up to fifteen years. If you follow the rules of pruning and provide him with proper care, then throughout this period he will delight you with tasty and healthy aromatic berries.

Do not be afraid to experiment - growing blackberries is not fraught with any difficulties, especially for that summer resident who is familiar with the peculiarities of cultivating raspberries, but such a berry, which is still somewhat exotic for our gardens, will deliver much more joy and pleasure. Take due care of the inhabitants of your garden, and they will not remain in debt, generously thanking you with tasty and healthy fruits, giving you health, longevity, and just a good mood.

Video "Blackberry: Getting Ready for Winter"

From this video you will learn what the winter care of blackberries and the preparation of the bush for winter is.