Grow thornless blackberry vertically?

[Star goose]

I have a thornless blackberry plant which is growing in a tight spot.

I'm wondering if I could make or buy an obelisk and train the plant upwards. Since it hadn't grown much until this year, all I did was to tie a few weedy-looking branches (or canes?) to bamboo sticks. But it now looks like wanting to grow much bigger. Vertically, a silly idea?

[Nicos]

Can’t see why not so long as it’s well supported!
I guess you might have to sacrifice a few stems if it starts to bush up around the base?

[Andraste]

I think vertical is a great idea

I don't grow blackberries but do have hybrids - a tayberry & a loganberry - growing either side of a cheap metal arch trellis to save space on the plot. They both seem quite happy to go up (they do need a bit of help by tying them in as they grow).

When my plants were very small in their first year & still a bit small last year, I grew a couple of spare climbing beans with them- they filled out the bare bits of the arch & the beans hung conveniently down for easy picking.

I think our arch makes a pretty feature. You can't really see the loganberry on the attached but it's not a bad shot of the tayberry side.

Growing up won't stop the plant 'spreading' as it gets established but it's not a big job to cut off a bit/divide/dig out suckers if it's outgrowing the designated ground space & as the stems aren't so likely to touch the ground there's less chance of self-rooting bits.

If you know the variety that would help inform the height of the obelisk/support to suit you - I believe there are some thornless blackberries that only grow to a few feet high but others will go up a lot higher.

Edit to add: the arch is our entry point so please excuse the rubbish in the background which belongs to the plot behind

[Jungle Jane]

Mine grows vertically naturally,it flops over with the weight of fruit & I’ve put a chair in front of it to help it stand,your way sounds more gardener like
edit - I’ve got an Apache thornless,I do have to cut it so it doesn’t grow too tall,I let it go to just over six foot.

[Andraste]

I like your chair idea Jungle Jane I imagine a nice little sit down with berries just within reach to snack on while you take a break - a perfect gardener's seat

[Star goose]

Thanks all :-) Andraste, thanks for sharing your photo. Your arch looks great - it's very encouraging to see it's totally doable. It's standing up. Wow.

My blackberry pup was given by my allotment friend and the mother plant growing on his plot is certainly big. He can't remember the name, unfortunately.

Using an arch seems like a lovely idea. I think I'll look into this :-)