Question: I would like to plant some blackberry and raspberry bushes on my property. Can I plant them together in the same row? What type of soil and fertilizer do they need?
Blackberries and raspberries are some of the favorite berries of home gardeners. They are delicious, high in fiber, low in calories and fat, rich in vitamin C, K, other antioxidants and phytochemicals. Relatively easy to grow in temperate climates like Virginia, they produce more and take less space than many other fruits. They bear fruit after only one to two years. Success depends on plant and site selection and planting and maintaining the berry plants. These plants can produce for 10 years or longer. Because they have a short shelf life, growing your own means enjoying more freshly picked berries with less spoilage.
Understanding Caneberries
Known as caneberries or brambles, blackberries and raspberries produce fruits on canes emerging from the plant’s crown, a compressed stem located at or just below the soil level, where the roots and above ground canes meet. Raspberries can also produce canes from roots, but blackberry canes only grow from crowns.
The crowns and roots are perennial (living for many growing seasons) but the canes are biennial (having a two-year life cycle). The first-year shoots are called primocanes and the second-year shoots are called floricanes. There are two fruiting types of blackberries and raspberries.
- Primocane fruiting varieties bear fruit on the first-year shoots in late summer and then again on the second-year canes the following summer after a period of winter chilling and appropriate pruning. Because of their ability to produce a crop on both first year and second year growth, they are also known as ‘ever bearing’.
- Floricane fruiting varieties bear fruit only on second year canes and then those canes die.
New canes grow from the crown every year, so after the year when planted, crowns will produce both primocanes and floricanes and fruit according to their fruiting type.
Selecting the Plants
Consider the fruiting type, growing habit (trailing, semi-erect or erect), presence or absence of thorns and, in the case of raspberries, the fruit color (red, black, purple or yellow). The characteristics of the plants selected will impact both planting and maintenance.
Select only certified high quality, disease resistant, 1-year old plants of the best varieties for your USDA plant hardiness zone from a reputable nursery or garden center. Blackberries generally prefer the cooler regions of Virginia, and raspberries prefer the warmer regions. See Table 2 of this article for suggested varieties for home small-fruit planting in Virginia. For a more extensive list of caneberry varieties, see “The Mid-Atlantic Berry Guide for Commercial Growers”, published by Penn State.
Planning the Space
After choosing your plants, look at your whole home landscape.
- Create a rough plan. Think about the amount of space available, whether to locate the berry plants near a vegetable garden, fruit/nut trees or ornamental plants and how these plants will interface with subsequent plantings.
- Select a site with full sun on level ground without low or wet areas or exposure to strong winds. * Start small and add more plants as your time and skill allow. A small, well-maintained planting of berries is better than a large neglected plot.
- Plan the size of your berry patch based on the recommended distance between plants in rows and between rows, which varies depending on the varieties planted and the estimated yield. (Blackberries can yield 5 to 15 pounds per plant; raspberries 3 to 5 pounds per plant.)
- Decide whether to trellis or otherwise support the plants, which can affect the space required. Consider planting the caneberries as a hedgerow (a strip of densely planted shrubs) as a habitat for wildlife and beneficial insects.
- Do a soil test in advance and follow recommendations on adjusting the pH and other nutrient levels at the chosen site.
Preparing and Maintaining the Berry Patch
- Soils: These berries do best in well-drained, sandy loam soils with a pH between 6.0 and 6.5 and 3 percent or more organic matter. The availability of plant nutrients depends on the pH level and may need to be adjusted depending on the soil test results.
- Time to Plant: Plant the crowns in late fall or early spring about four weeks before the average date of the last frost. Set the crowns in at or slightly below the soil surface. Some plants come with a ‘handle”, a piece of old cane, which can be used to set the plants in place and cut off after new growth begins.
- Maintenance: Five or six inches of mulch should be applied after planting and replenished as needed. Plants need 1 to 2 inches of water during the growing season.
- Fertilization: If soil is fertile and mulch is maintained, no fertilizer is necessary when planting. Fertilizer should be added if soil test indicates amendments are necessary and applied according to the fertilizer’s label. Usually about ½ pound nitrate of soda or ¾ pound of 10-10-10 for each 100 square feet of mulched area will be enough. Don’t overfertilize, which can cause too much growth, damage to foliage, roots, fruit quality, yield, and make plants more susceptible to disease or other pests. Improper application of fertilizers can pollute our waterways and adversely affect wildlife.
- Support: Blackberries and black and purple raspberries should be trellised, trained along a fence, staked or otherwise supported. Red raspberries have many suckers, so they are often grown in hedgerows.
- Pruning: Prune dead, diseased and other damaged canes in late winter after severe cold is past and before buds begin to swell. Prune in summer to stimulate lateral branching. Detailed guidance for pruning depends on the type of caneberries and whether they are supported or grown as self-supporting plants. Keep primocane and floricane fruiting varieties separate, since different pruning techniques apply.
- Disease and Pest Management: For recommendations on specific disease and pest problems with caneberries in Virginia, refer to the Virginia Cooperative Extension 2021 Pest Management Guide for Home Grounds and Animals.
For more general planting guidelines, see Virginia Cooperative Extension horticultural best management practices.
Interplanting Blackberries and Raspberries
The “The Mid-Atlantic Berry Guide for Commercial Growers”, advises to: “Keep black and purple raspberries away from old plantings of red raspberries because mosaic virus can spread from red raspberries and is more severe on black and purple raspberries; keep all red raspberries away from old plantings of blackberries because blackberries can be a symptomless carrier of curl virus.” In other words, if planting blackberries and raspberries in the same row or close by, gardeners need to recognize the risk of disease and damage to the plants. Removing any wild brambles in the vicinity may also keep disease pressure down. A better option is to plant blackberries and raspberries in different locations and keep red raspberry plants away from other raspberry varieties.
Take care of those berry plants and they will take care of you! Harvest the berries in the morning after the dew has evaporated when they are soft, ripe and easy to pick. Enjoy!
References
“Blackberries Part 1”, Campbell, Cleve, Piedmont Master Gardeners, The Garden Shed, Vol 3. No.4, Apr 2017 https://piedmontmastergardeners.org/article/blackberries-part-i/
“Brambles in Home Fruit Planting”, Demchak, Senior Extension Associate, Penn State Extension, 19 Jul 2016 https://extension.psu.edu/brambles-in-the-home-fruit-planting
“Evaluation of Blackberry Varieties in Virginia”, Conway, Mikel Ann, Master’s Student, Horticulture, and Samtani, Jyesh B, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech, Horticulture and Small Fruit Extension Specialist, Virginia Tech, Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Publication, HORT-226P,
“Growing Raspberries in the Home Garden”, Chadwick, Pat, Piedmont Master Gardeners, The Garden Shed, Vol 5, No. 5, May 2020
“Home Garden Raspberries and Blackberries”, Circular 766, Georgia Cooperative Extension, October 2013 “Pruning and Training Caneberries” (Blackberries and Raspberries), Lockwood, David W., Professor, Plant Sciences, UT Extensions, University of Tennessee, Publication SP 284-G, Sep 2014 https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/documents/SP284-G.pdf
“Raspberry Planting and Care for Home Gardeners”, Hassani, Nadia, Master Gardener, Lehigh/Northampton Counties, Penn State Extension, 28 Apr 2020
“Small Fruit in the Home Garden”, Samani, Jayesh B et. al, Assistant Professor and Small Fruit Extension Specialist, Virginia Tech, Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Publication 426-840, 3 Oct 2016
“Southeast Regional Caneberry Production Guide”, Fernandez, Gina, et. al., Extension Specialist, Horticulture Science, North Caroline State Extension, AG-697, 2 Feb 2016
“The Mid-Atlantic Berry Guide for Commercial Growers: 2013-2014”, Produced by The Pennsylvania State University in cooperation with Rutgers University, the University of Delaware, the University of Maryland, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia University.
