BlackBerry and whitecurrant advice needed please!

Hello everyone! I am very new to gardening, only started this year. So I want to do a fruit area and got a BlackBerry Oregon thornless and a whitecurrant white Versailles. Both of the tags advise drastic pruning when planting and I was wondering if I should really do it. The BlackBerry suggests taking it down to 30cm above the ground and the whitecurrant suggests taking it down to 5cm above the ground! I don't want to do it and have two dead stumps for next year! Any advice would be great thanks !

 

Hi

Glad you haven't pruned them as that's what you do when you plant during the winter October to March (cut back hard) when all the leaves have dropped off on new plants only ie yours.

DONT PRUNE NOT IN JULY ( WITH NEW PLANTS )

They flower and fruit on new growth so next spring the new growth that is produced will flower and fruit they are greedy plants so a good thick mulch around the roots plus a general fertiliser "growmore" early March raked into the soil will help them

Every year take out a 1/3 of the old growth ie the ones that have fruited

If I have not made it clear to understand please just say ...

Spruce

 

Thts great. Thanks spruce! So should I cut back to the guidelines in winter ie 30cm for the blackberry and 5cm for the whitecurrant, then subsequent years cut back 1/3 of old growth?

 

Yes it will make the plant produce shoots from out of the ground are you growing in the ground or pots

I will find a diagram for your black berry as you can grow on two fence panels (and easy to net to keep the bird off)

dormant means when all the leaves drop off

what you cut off/prune you can make cuttings (hardwood cuttings)

 

That is fab, thanks spruce. I am actually out in the garden today making frames for them. I will post a picture when I'm done. :-)

 

I never bother taking cuttings for brambles (blackberry) all I do is just lay a shoot onto the ground about mid season ,leaving about 2 sets of leaves above ground and place a spade full of soil on top of the trailing brier then place a brick on the soil to keep it in place,next year when you see it is growing strong lust cut it of from the mother plant,leave till the end of the year then replant to where you want it.

 

So this is what I have managed to do today. I'm going to string up some horizontal lines tomorrow. I know I've planted them a little close but it's a small space :(

 

looks great , just think if you never asked on here .....

 

I know! I would have chopped them down and ended up with stumps next year! Thankyou everyone for your help on this. :-)