Blackberry & blackberry hybrids

Facts: Deciduous cane bearing shrub, above growth / the canes are temporary, roots are the only permanent part of the plant, summer fruiting Nov to Feb, grows from suckers, winter pruning, many garden friendly hybrids, grows 2m high, plant 1-3m apart.

Climate: Cool climate only but some hybrids such as loganberries and youngberries are better suited to warm climates.

How to grow: Blackberries need training along a trellis to tame them into a garden friendly shape. The problem is that as each shoot grows over, it arches to the ground, and takes root – its important to avoid this and instead hold the cane and tie it to the trellis.

Varieties: Loganberries are thornless and perfectly suited to the home garden; they must ripen on the bush to gain their full sweetness. The thorny boysenberries are better thornless. Silvanberries fruit over a longer period. Marionberries have better flavoured but produce less than other berries. Youngberries are very similar to boysenberry but with sweeter and shinier berries.

Pruning: Those growing logan, boysen and young should prune back to 4 buds above ground level in late spring to encourage more branching.