What to do with wild Blackberries

[JimmerG]

Down the end of our garden we've got a big area of wild blackberries that produce a good crop of berries every year. My question is - what can I do to improve the productivity? They have become rather huge and out of control so somesort of pruning needs to be done. Should they be hacked down to the ground at some point?

There also seems to be two types of growth - some produce very vigorous thick very spiny branches that bear no fruit, some are less vigorous, less prickly but do produce fruit. Might there be two types of plant here?

Any help would be of great use.

Jimmer

[bobleponge]

I cant remember figures Jimmer, but I'm sure that there are over 100 different types of blackberry in the UK, often growing alongside each other, so there may well be 2 where you are.
I hate wild ones, as they invade my garden every year, and scratch my grandkids to bits. Every year I take the crop and then hack them down as far as I can go, and then dig out the roots.
But still they come back the following year.
They can be trained if you can be bothered to take cuttings and actually grow them where you want, along fences, walls etc, but they are very invasive.
B****y things.
I would start with a fairly severe prune and see how they go in the summer, and then make plans from there.

[gojiberry]

You need to treat them the same as summer fruiting raspberries. Any briars that produced fruit this year want cutting back to the ground. Any new briars want tying in as they will produce this coming seasons crop. They tend to be invasive because of the amount of growth they produce each year. Never let the tips reach the ground as it is the tips that root and produce new plants.

Ian

[JimmerG]

Thanks for your help guys....

Sounds like I need to get in there, find the non-productive brambles and dig them up. Then identify last year's fruiting branches and hack them back - but leave any new growth for next year's fruit... I'm assuming these will be easily told apart.

Does that sound about right?

[Two_Sheds]

Then identify last year's fruiting branches and hack them back - but leave any new growth for next year's fruit... I'm assuming these will be easily told apart.

Yep, once you know what you're looking for
Prune out the darker brown, thicker branches, and leave the younger greener ones.

You may decide it's not worth the bother ... some blackberries are pretty unpalatable. Some are more pip than juice.

However, they make superb nesting sites for birds, and they are unbeatable as "natural barbed wire" fences. You just need to keep on top of them, tie them in as advised above. It's the tip of the plant that will root if it touches the ground, so keep the tips facing the sky