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Backyard Brambles
By Scott Guiser, Extension Educator/Horticulture

Brambles include raspberries, blackberries and many other plants in the genus Rubus. There are hundreds of Rubus species growing throughout the world and more than 18 species in Pennsylvania. Some, like Rubus occidentalis, the black raspberry are native, others such as Rubus phoenicolasius, the wine berry, are introduced. Let’s see how to tame this tasty fruiting plant and add a gourmet treat to our gardens.

Generally, the brambles are divided into two groups…the blackberries and the raspberries. This is an oversimplification and interbreeding between the two types occurs but for now, let’s go with it.

Raspberries are preferred by most gardeners and it’s easy to see why. They have fantastic flavor, can be grown in small gardens, berries are all fruit (no pith) and while prickly, a pair of gloves is all you need to tame them. By choosing several varieties you can enjoy raspberries from late June until frost. Raspberries are available in four colors, red, black, purple and gold. Red and golds are virtually identical except for fruit color. Purples are a cross between red and blacks. Blacks are probably the most common wild bramble. Many folks have nice memories of picking their high quality fruit.

Raspberries require planting beds that are 3-4 feet wide and you’ll need to allow for 5-6 feet in height. They are planted about 3 feet apart in the row. A small trellis or fence for support helps keep the planting tidy. Like all fruiting plants, full sunlight is best, but they will tolerate slight shade. Well drained, high organic matter soil is best but they are tough plants. Don’t plant in wet areas. Avoid garden areas that have had tomato, pepper, eggplant and strawberry recently since soil borne diseases are a major bramble killers and these plants are alternate hosts.

Get plants from reputable, mail-order nurseries, not the Sunday newspaper (see our website for more info). While local garden centers sometimes sell brambles, best plant quality results from shipment directly from the nursery. Plant in early spring. A hard frost will not injure them. Primocane bearing (also called everbearing) red and gold raspberries will reward you in the first year because they bear fruit on the primo (first year) cane. Other brambles will not fruit until the season after planting, on floricanes (second year canes). Primocane bearers are some times called ‘ever-bearers’ because after the top portion of the cane fruits in the late summer and fall, the lower portion of the cane will fruit the next summer. Real nice for home gardens. Only red and gold raspberries have this habit but ever-bearing black raspberries will be available soon.

Many people are mystified when it comes time to prune brambles but all becomes clear when you realize this: The plant is perennial but the canes are biennial. This means that after fruiting in the second year, canes naturally die. At the same time, new canes are growing to replace them. So, if you looked at a raspberry planting today (and it had not been pruned for one year) you would see dead canes (those that bore fruit last summer and then died) and live canes that sprouted from the rootstock in the spring of 2007. The pruning is simple…cut out all dead canes and then trim back the remaining live canes to keep them in bounds.

Blackberries have a bit of plant tissue that stays attached to the edible flesh of the fruit when it is picked. They are hard to eat in polite company (gotta spit out that pith). Then there are the thorns. We’re not talking about prickles here, but large, sharp, tear-your-flesh-and-clothes thorns. Not many folks want to deal with all of this. Flavor is excellent but you have to brave the thorns to experience it. It’s true that there are thornless types of blackberries. No thorny issues here. Yields are phenomenal taste is fair, at best. They are great for jams, jellies, juice and wine but flavor is not their strong suit. They are less winter hardy than the other brambles but will do fine in Bucks County. A final issue with thornless blackberries is that they are very large plants and definitely require a trellis for support. Eight to twelve feet of shoot growth in one year is common.

There is a lot to learn about bramble growing but they are a very rewarding addition to any garden. A complete chapter on growing brambles is contained in Penn State’s outstanding publication Fruit Production for the Home Gardener. Read it on line at: http://ssfruit.cas.psu.edu/, buy a copy from our office or order on line at: http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/Publications.asp. This publication has a list of nurseries that supply fruit plants.

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Master Gardener Corner

Come out to the Bucks Beautiful Fair March 21 & 22 this year and visit the Master Gardener Studio and Question & Answer Booth. The Bucks Beautiful Fair is always held at Delaware Valley College during the college’s spring break. This year it happens to fall on Easter weekend, so the Fair will be held on Friday and Saturday only. Friday is “family day” with lot’s of fun activities for children; including the Master Gardener’s Kids Catch the Gardening Bug program. Saturday, the Fair will have two featured speakers, Mike McGrath, radio host of “You Bet Your Garden” who will speak on Getting Your Landscape Off Drugs, and Holly Smimizu, Executive Director of the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C. (and Penn State Graduate!) who will speak on Green Gardens.

Horticultural Happenings

• March 2 – 9 — Philadelphia Flower Show, Convention Center. Visit www.philaflowershow.com for more information. Unfortunately Penn State will not have a booth at this year’s Flower Show.
• March 21 & 22 — Bucks Beautiful Fair, Delaware Valley College. Visit www.bucksbeautiful.com for more information. Visit the Master Gardener Q&A Booth for more information on IPM.
• Master Gardener Spring Compost seminars. We do not have dates & locations yet for the spring seminars, but we will hold three seminars in lower, mid and upper county sometime between April and June, 2008. The dates & locations will be included in the March/April OTF newsletter.
• May 3 — Annual Master Gardener Plant Sale, parking lot in front of the Extension Office, 1282 Almshouse Rd., Neshaminy Manor Center, Doylestown, PA. 9 AM to 2 PM.

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Strategies for Reducing Toxics Around the Home

Home and garden applications account for more pesticide use on a per acre basis than agriculture. In the United States, non-farmers use over 163 million pounds of pesticide active ingredient, spending over $2.1 billion per year ($7.50 for every woman, man and child). Ask yourself, do I really need a chemical to solve this pest problem? Less toxic strategies include:

• Preventing pests and making the home harder to invade and less desirable for indoor pests by caulking cracks and holes, removing water sources (leaky faucets, etc), and keeping surfaces clean
• Selecting the best plant for the best location and maintaining plant health
• Tolerating low levels of pest infestation instead of treating every small nuisance
• If you do need a pesticide use the least toxic product that will only kill the targeted pest

For more information check out Penn State’s Integrated Pest Management website - http://paipm.cas.psu.edu

Living on a Few Acres?

Living on a few acres? Want to grow your own apples, raise a few sheep, or produce your own eggs for breakfast? If you said “yes” to any of these questions, Penn State Cooperative Extension in Bucks County has a short course designed just for you.

The course, called ‘Living on a few Acres’, begins March 25 with classes continuing on consecutive Tuesdays through April 29, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Classes are held at Neshaminy Manor Center, Doylestown. Call Bucks County Cooperative Extension for a registration form (215-345-3283). Registration is on a first come, first served basis, $40 per person or $50 per couple.

Penn State | College of Agricultural Sciences | Cooperative Extension & Outreach

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This page last updated Wednesday, July 1, 2009

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