How to Plant Thornless Blackberries
Thornless blackberries make growing blackberries at home an easier task. Blackberry thorns often discouraged gardeners from planting the berries in their backyards. Thornless blackberry bushes are not as cold-hardy as thorned bushes, so check that your climate can sustain the bush before planting it. Otherwise, planting a thornless blackberry requires only that you create the right environment for the plant. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Choose a planting location with full or partial sun and well-drained, moist soil. Almost any kind of soil will suffice as long as there is no standing water at any point in the year.
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Amend the soil where you will plant the blackberries. Use a spade and work the soil, eliminating any clumps and removing any large rocks. Mix in organic compost or manure at this time.
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3
Dig holes for each blackberry bush. Vigorous varieties such as Smoothstem and Thornfree should be spaced 6 to 8 feet apart, but less-vigorous varieties require only 4 to 6 feet of room. Check the growing guide that accompanied the bush for proper spacing information.
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Cut the tops of the canes off of the shrubs with pruning shears to about 6 inches above their bases. This will make them easier to handle when planting them and promote new growth for next season.
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Place each bush in a hole, keeping the top of the root ball level with the ground surface. If it is not, remove or add dirt to the hole to level it off. Tamp down the soil around the base of the plant. Water the plant deeply and slowly to settle the dirt around the shrub's roots.
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Place a 2- to 3- inch layer of mulch around the base of the plants. This will reduce the amount of watering needed in the future and keep down many weeds that could compete with the new plant.
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Erect a trellis as a guide for the plants. The trellis will not be needed until after the first growing season, but it should be erected at planting nonetheless. Two posts with two wires strung between them at 2-1/2 and 5 feet from the ground should be enough to guide the bushes.
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