Wild Blackberries

[bcallaha]

I own some reclaimed coal strip ground, and there are a couple of patches of blackberries growing. I don't know if they were plated as part of the reclamation, or whether they were "planted" by birds. They are good and flavorful....and thorny.

Anyway, I'm clearing the ground, and would like to salvage some of the plants, and replant them in my garden. How is the best way to do this, and when should I do it? I would like to clear the ground yet this fall.

Thanks
Brad

 

[pharmerphil]

Hi bcallaha..

Transplanting blackberry bushes is best done in fall, after fruiting has stopped. Cut back the canes to a couple inches, dig back a bit from the plant, about a foot, keep as much of the root intact as you can...set into a hole a bit bigger than the root ball, water and firm the soil...should be good to go
keep watered till ground freezes..
where you relocate them too, you can expand by "tipping"
You gently bend a cane to soil level and covering the end with an inch or two of soil. tip will grow its own roots and start a new blackberry plant.
Hope this helps..Good Luck

 

[Ridgerunner]

That method works. You can also take roots with no plants attached (maybe 6" long), dig a trench about 2" to 3" deep, lay the root in there and cover it back up. It is best to do this one while they are dormant, before they start to grow in the spring. Put the roots about 2 feet apart.

 

[ducks4you]

I ended up taking my repotted 2009 blackberry bushes INDOORS for the winter. I had flowers in February - duh - so NOT fruit after I transplanted them into their "blooming spot" last May. BUT, they both have green, thick, healthy shoots, so it's all win-win.

 

[journey11]

You've already gotten good tips for transplanting. I was going to add--wild blackberries will gladly multiply themselves with very little help from you once your transplants get established. Be sure to put them in a row or patch that you can mow around the perimeters so that they don't take over your whole garden. They are stubborn and hard to get out of there once they do. I would also be sure to control bugs on them, especially stinkbugs, because they'll use them as a site to overwinter and multiply (and tame blackberries too, but they'll like the wild ones better). Then they'll move on to eat the rest of your garden. This is experience talking here...

 

[897tgigvib]

Yep. Don't worry, just dig them up in fall or winter, keep them a bit moist until you replant them before the next growing season. You'll probably get 3 or 4 hundred percent survival. Not kidding. For every plant you thought you started with, you will likely be able to separate out into 3, 4, or 5.

 

[hoodat]

In many pats of the country blackberries are a pioneer plant that is one of the first plants to appear in disturbed soil or burnt over areas. Be aware that most wild blackberries are prone to a virus that kills them off at about three years old. They have a clever way of escaping the soil borne virus. The canes bend over and root at the tips which means the clump "walks" and keeps finding fresh soil so it walks away from the infected soil. Sometimes the virus is wide spread so the tactic doesn't work but often they can walk away from it. That tactic doesn't fit too well in many gardens though. It can take over a garden if you let it walk.

 

[catjac1975]

I own some reclaimed coal strip ground, and there are a couple of patches of blackberries growing. I don't know if they were plated as part of the reclamation, or whether they were "planted" by birds. They are good and flavorful....and thorny.

Anyway, I'm clearing the ground, and would like to salvage some of the plants, and replant them in my garden. How is the best way to do this, and when should I do it? I would like to clear the ground yet this fall.

Thanks
Brad

Though the wild blackberries are tasty I have THORNLESS blackberries that I purchased some years ago. They abut the horse field so they grow without any care from the fertile runoff. They are easy to propagate through cuttings and I get a ton of berries from a small patch. Being able to reach in to pick without getting raked by thorns is heavenly. And the berries are huge.

 

[silkiechicken]

In many pats of the country blackberries are a pioneer plant that is one of the first plants to appear in disturbed soil or burnt over areas. Be aware that most wild blackberries are prone to a virus that kills them off at about three years old. They have a clever way of escaping the soil borne virus. The canes bend over and root at the tips which means the clump "walks" and keeps finding fresh soil so it walks away from the infected soil. Sometimes the virus is wide spread so the tactic doesn't work but often they can walk away from it. That tactic doesn't fit too well in many gardens though. It can take over a garden if you let it walk.

Ah...blackberries.

In the PNW, the best way to propagate the wild ones is the machete them to bits, dig them up, turn them into the ground, pull out what you can, and watch the entire area you tried to kill grow back in one year or less. You can burn them, but any 6 inch section of branch that didn't get cooked will re-root and start anew... or one bird flies by to destroy your work.

Sorry, that was no help. LOL

They do taste good. Eat them before they engulf your sheds and cars.

 

[897tgigvib]

Hay Silkie!

At least they aren't Poison Oak, and you can make pies from them...ohhhhhhhhhh or ice cream...or jelly. Poison Oak grows in the ravine north of my garden to a few feet from my garden. So far only one time have I had to get a small glass with a couple ounces of bleach to nip one in the bud.