Home Gardening Advice from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa Cunty
Client's Request: I have 2 different berry bushes in my backyard. One berry bush is a thornless blackberry and the other an olallieberry, and they are 2 years old. I am quite confused as to how to prune them. Can you explain the fruiting canes, the old canes, the canes for next crop of berries, etc. None of the informative videos I've reviewed make anything any clearer.
Pruning berry canes yearly encourages more fruit production and makes cultivation easier. Both of your berry bushes are considered to be grown and pruned as “blackberries”. We agree that pruning blackberries can be a bit overwhelming at first, but once you understand how they grow and get the plants trellised and trained, the task will become much easier for you!
There are two names for a blackberry cane, depending on whether the cane is in its first or second year of growth:
Primocanes: First year of growth: most types produce no fruit on these canes.
Floricanes: Second year of growth; these canes produce flowers and fruit and then die.
When to Prune With blackberries, primocanes create new stems, while floricanes produce flowers and after pollination, blackberries. It's important to know the difference because each type of cane is pruned at a different time of year and at a different point in the plant's growth cycle.
How to tell the difference? Just look carefully at the canes. Primocanes don't produce flowers or fruit and may have a flush of new growth at the tip, they may also tend to grow on the ground. Floricanes produce blossoms in the spring and berries in early to midsummer. Prune primocanes or stems without fruit and berries in June and July, but wait to prune the floricanes until after berries are picked. Another helpful hint for identifying the type of cane is that the floricanes will have remnants of bloom/berry clusters.
How Much to Prune When pruning blackberries, cut the primocanes down to about 48 inches, measuring from the ground up to the tip of the cane. Shoots develop off the main stem. These are called lateral shoots. They jut out to the sides. You can prune these back to around 18 inches towards the end of the summer. Floricanes are pruned differently. After all the fruit is harvested, wait until the end of the summer or into the early fall. Prune branches that bore fruit down to the ground, or at least as far down as you can reach comfortably.
Here is an excellent video on blackberry care and pruning from Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply:
http://www.groworganic.com/blackberryolallieeach.html
Here are additional helpful links from UC sources about blackberry care:
http://cesonoma.ucanr.edu/files/27140.pdf
http://cagardenweb.ucanr.edu/Berries/Blackberries/
Good luck with your pruning project! Please let us know if you have any additional questions.
... and apologies for the blog title... I just couldn't help myself... editor
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (SLH)
Note: The UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/ MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog (//ucanr.edu/blogs/CCMGBlog/).