How to Plant Blackberry Vines

Blackberries are related to raspberries, boysenberries and loganberries. They are very easy to grow at home even if you only have a small area to work with. Buying certified virus-free plants at a nursery will further ensure the success of your vines. They will spread on their own, giving you more and more free berry vines as time goes by. You can also train the vines to climb a trellis or fence to prevent them from spreading too far.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Blackberry vine plants Shovel Gardening gloves Trellis (optional) Grass mulch Compost Trickle hose or sprinkler

1. Choose your area to grow the berry vines. Growing next to a fence in full sun will be the best scenario for your plants. Plant your vines in a patch of ground that has not been used for other plants in the past few years. Avoid planting them anywhere near other brambles, and keep them at least 300 feet from any wild vines growing in your area.

2. Plant in early spring. Dig holes for plants an inch or two deeper than the root ball of the plants. Holes should be 5 to 8 feet between plants and 6 to 10 feet between rows. The plants need full sun which is about 6 to 8 hours of sun each day.

3. Place the plants in the holes and bury 1 inch deeper than they were in the container from the nursery. Push the soil back in around the plants and hand tamp down firm.

4. Water well to establish the plants. They will not produce fruit until the second year, when they will need 1 to 2 inches of water a week during the growing season. Drip or trickle irrigation works well for blackberry plants.

5. Blackberry vines do not normally need fertilizer but placing compost around the plants and watering it into the ground will give the soil some nutrients. You can also use a grass mulch to provide nitrates to the soil.