Neglected tayberry plants

[dominic10]

It's five weeks on and we are going great guns with sorting out the new allotment. However, in the middle of the plot and forming an L shape are around 10+ tayberry bushes. We have cut out the older stems but I have been researching that they last 15 years. The person before us had the plot for 20 years. The next door neighbours say they have never done much. So I am wondering whether to keep them or not. They are very overgrown and the bit along the fence has nettles and bindweed, etc. I was thinking of just cutting them down, sorting out the weeds and then trying to un-neglect them in the autumn but they take up a lot of room and they are very thorny well, pretty lethal as in eye poking out height. They have a lot of new growth growing at the base of each plant. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

[Capsid]

My tayberries are like brambles and need supporting. Definitely not a bush and not suitable in the middle of an allotment IMO, but I'm confused as you talk about the bit along the fence. The fruit forms on last year's growth, so if you cut them right down you won't have fruit this year. I'd cut them down but try to preserve the new basal shoots for next year's fruit.

[dominic10]

Hi thanks Capsid. I've been down to my allotment today armed with loppers and all the tayberries are flowering. You are right they are like brambles but the ones I have inherited are clump like with the canes arching out. They are in an L shape. The longest bit divides my allotment in half and then the short side is by the fence with nettles, thistles, bind weed and clumps of grass growing all in amongst the tayberries. The nettles and thistles are growing really fast with all this rain so I'm going to leave the ones in the middle where the weeds are not too bad but cut down the ones by the fence as it is almost impossible to get at the bed to weed. I'll see how productive they are as they do take up a lot of room. Also I was wearing my really thick gloves and the tayberries are very thorny so I'm wounded! Pictures of tayberries seem to show the plants with lots of leaves - these have hardly any leaves and look more like brambles. Do you get much of the crop from your plants?

[rustylady]

Are you absolutely sure they are tayberries?

[realfood]

Tayberries are very productive and mine are usually the first fruit of the year for me. One of my favourites.

[WendyC]

As they are related to blackberries/brambles it sounds like they have rooted from the tip where they touch the ground, and over time would produce a thicket of stems. One of my tayberries rooted at the tip. I would leave the flowering stems and cut away anything else. That way you can confirm they are tayberries and get a crop. They will throw up new shoots for next year's crop. Perhaps you could move them to a better position for you in the autumn. Thinking about it they don't have many leaves but yes very thorny. I get a reasonable crop but not a many as say blackberries. Good luck.

[dominic10]

Hi guys - I was told they were tayberries when we took over the plot just over a month ago. Just told that the grey stems were last year's growth i.e. bare but really prickly and the red stems were this years. I think moving them is an option. I think I punctured my really good gloves today as well as myself. So tomorrow it might be war but my OH is not working this weekend and he has industrial type gloves! which don't fit me as I have small hands. We've just got to get on top of the weeds before they flower and set seed - I am also growing lots of seedlings here at home which we need to get planted out. Beginning to panic.