Pruning garden blackberries has its own subtleties: this shrub has a two-year cycle (except remontant varieties) and bears fruit on overwintered shoots that do not bear fruit a second time and therefore they are not needed. In addition, this plant grows aggressively and rapidly. I will talk about how I prune blackberries myself for winter.
Why is it needed
You need to prune blackberries for several reasons:
- The overgrown bush shades itself, and the middle is not illuminated. As a result, the berries become not so sweet, and the plant hibernates worse. In nature, this is not scary, because the shoots take root and give life to new bushes, but in the garden it is better to avoid the death of the central bush.
- Unnecessary shoots draw off nutrients, slowing down the development of those that will still bear fruit.
- Overgrown blackberries are more difficult to cover for the winter.
- After pruning, young growth appears, which will eventually yield a harvest.
When to trim?
I will not give a clear answer to the question about the timing of pruning. It all depends on what the weather is and how soon frosts are expected. In any case, it is necessary to cut it in the interval between the end of fruiting and the beginning of cold weather. The deadline is 3-4 weeks before frost. That is, you can work somewhere from September to the end of October.
Pruning principles
When pruning blackberries, I do it like this:
- I cut out the shoots that have yielded crops this year. Blackberries have a two-year fruiting cycle, and the second time the shoots of berries do not give. It is very easy to distinguish two-year-old shoots: they are dense, brownish-brown, and you can find dry inflorescences or stalks on them - while annuals are green or greenish-brown and clean. I cut them over the kidney, leaving no stumps.
- I thin out young shoots. I remove too short and thin ones - they still will not overwinter. Even if there are a lot of branches that have matured over the summer, I also remove some of them, leaving no more than 8-10 of the strongest and thickest. If after wintering they are all intact, I cut out 1-2 shoots in the spring - more than 8 branches on the bush will not really bear fruit.
- Having cut out the extra shoots, I shorten the young ones. The central stems should not be longer than 2 m, I cut out the lateral stems, leaving 60-70 cm. This makes it easier to pick berries, and the shoots themselves will not shade each other in the summer. However, I do not do this kind of pruning every year: if a harsh winter is expected, it is better to postpone work until the spring so as not to weaken the plant.
- Without fail, I remove shoots affected by insects. They never overwinter, and they will not give healthy shoots in the spring. I burn stems affected by pests.
The main thing when trimming is to use a sharpened pruner with a disinfected blade, and also not to forget about thick gloves: of most varieties of blackberries, the whips are covered with thorns that dig into the skin remarkably, can break off - and then you will be tortured to extract splinter.
Caring for blackberries after pruning
Since pruning is always a traumatic procedure for a plant, I always apply fertilizer afterwards to feed the blackberries before winter. In this case, I use not only organic matter, but also mineral compositions. According to my observations, the best feeding method is as follows:
- First, spread the compost in a row spacing with a layer of at least 5 cm. If there is no mature compost, rotted manure will do, but you need more of it - 10 cm.
- On top I pour granules of potassium sulfate or superphosphate - about 15 g per square meter of blackberry.
- Then I dig up the ground about half a spade bayonet.
After that, you can already start preparing the bush for wintering. I do not recommend covering immediately after pruning - you need to give the plant at least 3-5 days for the sections to dry in the air.
Read also:How to properly prune strawberries after harvest
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