Imagine picking your own sun ripened blackberries in the garden and adding them to a dessert or a smoothie. With the right care a single blackberry bush can give plenty of sweet berries year after year. The bush is also decorative and easy to look after. It grows quickly, climbs happily on a trellis and carries white and pink flowers that draw bees and butterflies.
Blackberry in brief
The plant: Blackberry is a climbing berry bush in the rose family. It has perennial roots and sends up long, arching canes. Wild blackberries are often thorny, but there are thornless garden varieties.
Taste and berries: The berries are black or dark purple when ripe. The flavour is sweet and juicy with a mild sharpness. Unripe berries are red and very sour.
Ripening and harvest: Most varieties ripen in late summer and autumn, in August and September. The berries ripen a few at a time, so you can pick continuously for several weeks. An established plant can crop well for 15-20 years.
Varieties: There are many garden varieties, including thornless ones such as Black Satin and early ones that ripen in August such as Sunberry. Choose a variety to suit your climate. Most do well in gardens across the UK and northern Europe, and the hardiest cope with colder, more exposed sites.
Use: Blackberries are eaten fresh from the bush or used in jam, cordial, pies, baking and desserts. They are rich in vitamins, particularly vitamin C, and in antioxidants.
Self fertile: The blackberry bush is self pollinating, so a single plant is enough to get fruit.
Planting blackberries
Plant your blackberry bush in spring or early autumn when the weather is mild, so the plant has time to root properly. Container grown blackberries can also be planted during summer, but then you need to water extra carefully. This is how to go about it.
Choose a sunny spot: Blackberries do best in full sun and warmth. A sheltered position, ideally against a south facing wall or a fence, gives sweet berries and protects the plant from strong wind.
Improve the soil: Blackberries want soil rich in organic matter and nutrients, well drained but able to hold moisture. Dig a hole at least as deep and wide as the root ball. Mix in planting compost for extra nutrition and good structure. Avoid heavy, waterlogged clay and add sand or grit if needed. A neutral pH around 6-7 is ideal.
Plant with enough space: Water the root ball through before planting by standing it in a bucket of water for a few minutes. Set the plant in the hole so the top of the root ball sits level with the soil surface and do not plant too deep. If you plant several bushes, leave at least 1.5-2.5 m between them, because blackberries spread. Fill in with soil and firm gently.
Give solid support: Have a trellis or a strong support in place behind the plant already at planting. Blackberry canes can grow several metres long and need something to climb on. Fit a trellis or wires, or use a sturdy fence. Tie in the longest canes carefully.
Water and mulch: Water well right after planting so the soil settles around the roots. Put a mulch of bark, straw or grass clippings around the base of the plant. It helps the soil hold moisture and keeps weeds down. Keep the soil lightly moist while the bush establishes.
Caring for blackberries
Blackberries are fairly easy to look after, but a few points keep the bush healthy and the crop good.
Watering: Keep watering regularly for the first month after planting. Later an established bush copes with some drought, but water during long dry spells, especially while the berries are developing, to get large and juicy blackberries. Avoid frequent light watering. It is better to water less often but thoroughly, which encourages the roots to go deep.
Feeding: Blackberries do not need heavy feeding. In spring you can work in well rotted compost or manure around the bush. A moderate dose of fertiliser for berry bushes also works. Avoid too much nitrogen, which gives plenty of leaf and lanky canes but fewer berries, and raises the risk of grey mould.
Pruning: Regular pruning keeps the bush in shape and increases the crop. After harvest in late summer or autumn, cut away all the canes that have carried fruit, right down at ground level. That lets the bush put its strength into the new canes. Keep the young canes of the year that have not fruited yet, because next year's blackberries come on those. At the same time thin out if the bush is very dense, since light and air reduce the risk of disease. In spring, tie the remaining canes along the trellis so they are supported and spread out. If some canes are damaged or very long you can shorten them. When planting new bushes you can also cut long canes back to about 40-50 cm to encourage branching and a bushier plant.
Diseases and pests: Blackberries rarely have serious problems when well cared for, but like raspberries they can get raspberry beetle grubs in the berries, or grey mould on the fruit in wet summers. To prevent this, keep the bush open by pruning and tying in so it does not turn into a dense thicket. Water at ground level and avoid wetting the leaves unnecessarily. If you find grubs in some berries, pick off and discard the affected fruit early. Birds also love blackberries, so if you see them feeding you can net the bush just before the berries start to ripen. In colder areas with hard winters it is worth protecting the canes that have to overwinter. Lay them down towards the ground and cover with leaves or spruce branches, and they come through the cold better.
Harvesting blackberries
Blackberries usually ripen from late summer and some way into autumn. Most garden varieties crop in August and September, but some early varieties can start in July and late ones can carry fruit until the first frosty nights. The berries ripen unevenly, which means they are not all ready at once. You can pick some every day or every week through the season. Check the bush often and take the blackberries as they become fully ripe.
A blackberry is ripe when it has turned a deep black purple all over and comes away easily from the plant. If the small segments still look reddish, or the berry holds on firmly, leave it a little longer. Blackberries picked unripe do not ripen well off the bush, so it pays to wait until they are properly ripe for the best sweetness. Any half ripe berries can still be used for jam or cordial, where their higher acid and pectin content is useful.
Enjoy the blackberries fresh from the bush, as few things beat the taste of sun warmed blackberries. A surplus keeps well frozen, which holds much of the flavour and goodness, or cooked into jam, cordial or jelly for the winter. Blackberries are also good in pies, cakes, smoothies and other desserts. With a little care your blackberry bush will keep producing good berries year after year.
Author: Emma Vogiatzi
Fact-checked by Erik Hoekstra
Last updated 2025-11-14