Blackberries and raspberries are two of the most delicious and nutrient-rich berries that can be grown at home. Their sweet, juicy flavors make them prized additions to summer fruit bowls, jams, desserts and more. But can these brambly berries be grown together successfully in the same garden? The short answer is yes, with some care taken to prevent disease spread. In this article, we’ll cover tips and considerations for interplanting blackberries and raspberries
Choosing Varieties
When choosing blackberry and raspberry varieties to grow together opt for plants with resistance to key diseases like anthracnose and rust. Good resistant blackberry choices include Navaho, Ouachita and Arapaho. For raspberries, go with varieties like Caroline, Jaclyn, Joan J or Kiwigold. Avoid planting highly susceptible red raspberry varieties near blackberries, as they can spread viruses.
It’s also best to pick day-neutral, primocane-fruiting types which fruit on first year canes. This makes pruning and disease control much simpler compared to floricane-fruiting kinds A bonus is getting a second smaller fall crop after the summer harvest! Prime examples are blackberry ‘Prime-Jan’ and raspberry ‘Heritage’.
Proper Spacing
Allow plenty of space between blackberry and raspberry plants, at least 6-8 feet between rows. This prevents crowding which leads to more pest and disease troubles. The canes need good air circulation to stay healthy.
Space blackberry plants 3-4 feet apart and raspberries 2-3 feet apart within the rows. Closer spacing can work in very small gardens but requires more intense management. Wider spacing gives better yields long-term.
Site Selection
Find a sunny, well-draining spot for blackberries and raspberries. They need at least 6 hours of direct sun daily and prefers slopes or raised beds to avoid wet feet.
Stay away from areas recently used to grow tomatoes, potatoes, peppers or eggplants. These crops share diseases with brambles. Avoid planting where wild blackberries or raspberries are growing nearby as this increases disease pressure.
Soil Preparation
Blackberries and raspberries thrive in slightly acidic soil with a pH of 5.5-6.5. Test soil nutrients and use fertilizers or amendments as needed to reach this optimal range.
Incorporate 2-3 inches of compost or aged manure before planting to enrich the soil with organic matter. Good drainage and moisture retention are key for healthy plants.
Planting and Care
Purchase 1-2 year old certified disease-free plants from a reputable nursery. Plant dormant bare-root canes in early spring once the soil has warmed.
Space rows and plants properly and install a trellis system at planting time. Train primocane varieties to vertical cordons for easier picking and pruning.
Use 2-3 inches of organic mulch to conserve moisture and reduce weeds. Irrigate 1-2 inches per week, adjusting for rainfall. Fertilize according to soil test recommendations to avoid over-feeding.
Pruning and Training
Prune canes that have finished fruiting after harvest to ground level. Keep 1-2 new primocanes per plant for next year’s crop. Remove weak, damaged or diseased floricanes anytime.
Train primocanes to wire supports and remove side branches to focus growth into main canes. This opens up the plant for better air circulation and berry development.
Pest and Disease Control
Preventive practices are key to avoiding major pest and disease issues when growing blackberries and raspberries together. Start with resistant varieties, proper planting site and ample spacing between plants.
Remove old floricanes immediately after harvest. Disinfect pruning shears between cuts with isopropyl alcohol to avoid spreading diseases.
Apply certified organic fungicides and insecticides only if a problem is identified. Avoid excessive spraying which can damage beneficial insects.
Harvesting and Enjoying your Bounty!
With good care, you can expect about 5-10 pounds of berries per plant! Pick when plump, slightly soft and fully black or red. Refrigerate promptly and enjoy fresh within 2-3 days.
Freezing is perfect for preserving your harvest to make jam, pies, smoothies or other goodies all year long. Nothing beats the flavor of homegrown berries interplanted in harmony.
About raspberries and blackberries (“brambles”)
Raspberries, blackberries, and their relatives (boysenberries, marionberries, loganberries, dewberries, etc.) are collectively known as brambles. These species and hybrids belong to the Rubus genus, part of the rose family (Rosaceae). Black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) and several blackberry species grow wild across Maryland, and many gardeners plant and enjoy a variety of cultivated types. Raspberry is somewhat less heat-tolerant than blackberry.
Bramble flowers have 70-125 pistils (female part) and each pistil contains two ovules. One ovule develops into a seed, and the other into a drupelet containing the seed. Each fruit is made up of a large number of drupelets, collectively called an aggregate fruit.
Bramble crowns and roots are perennial. Canes are biennial with the following typical life-cycle:
- Each spring, new shoots emerge from crown buds at the base of the plant.
- These first-year shoots, known as primocanes, grow and produce lateral (side/secondary) branches during the summer.
- At the end of summer, flower buds are formed on the primocane stems, though they do not bloom. Primocane stems go dormant in autumn and survive their first winter.
- In the second growing year, those one-year-old canes, now called floricanes, produce flowers and fruit on main stems and laterals (side branches). Lower parts of the canes are unproductive.
- Floricanes die after fruiting and must eventually be removed because they will not produce another harvest or survive a second winter. Usually, this pruning is done in late winter before new canes begin coming up.
Some cultivars produce fruit on primocanes:
- Primocane-bearing raspberry and blackberry cultivars produce fruit on first-year canes. They fruit later in the summer compared to floricane-bearing cultivars that fruit in June, and will often produce fruit until the first frost.
- Most gardeners cut and remove the canes after harvest in the dormant season, which simplifies maintenance.
- Red raspberry and blackberry produce root suckers that emerge close to or far from the crown. Black raspberry produces new shoots from the crown area only. Purple raspberry produces shoots mostly from the crown with some emerging from the roots.
Blackberries and raspberries are categorized based on how they grow (upright or sprawling growth habit) and which stems produce fruit.
Floricane-bearing:
- thorny erect
- thornless trailing
- thornless erect
Primocane-bearing:
- thorny erect
- thornless erect
Floricane-bearing:
- thorny
- thornless
Primocane-bearing:
- thorny (red, yellow)
- thornless (red)
- Black raspberry and purple raspberry (a cross between red and black raspberry) are floricane-bearing
The widespread, invasive bramble species Wineberry (Rubus phoenicolasius) should not be planted in gardens. It escapes cultivation and disrupts natural habitat, where its rapid growth crowds out native plants.
| Recommended Raspberry Cultivars | |
|---|---|
| Cultivar | Comments |
| Anne | Yellow primocane-bearing. UMD release. Large fruit with good flavor. |
| Bristol | Black. Large fruit of excellent quality. Erect, vigorous, productive plants. |
| Caroline | Red primocane-bearing. UMD release; excellent intense raspberry flavor. |
| Crimson Night | Red primocane-bearing. Dark purple veins, dark red fruit. Decorative canes are also red. |
|
Double Gold |
Yellow primocane-bearing. Attractive, champagne-colored fruit with a deep blush. |
| Encore | Red June-bearing. Thornless. Ripens mid-summer between most floricane- and primocane-bearers. |
| Himbo-Top® | Red primocane-bearing. Large fruit is firm and bright red. Easy to pick. |
| Jaclyn | Red primocane-bearing. UMD release; the earliest primocane. Good flavor, heat tolerance. |
| Jewel | Black. Productive variety. Large fruit with fine flavor; disease-resistant. |
| Joan-J | Red primocane-bearing. Upright and thornless. Big yields. |
| Latham | Red June-bearing. Cold-hardy, virus-resistant. Flavorful, firm fruit. Mid-season. |
| Prelude | Red primocane-bearing. One of the earliest-ripening primocane-bearing varieties. |
| Royalty | Purple. Large fruit becomes sweeter as it colors. Very vigorous and productive canes. |
Note: Dwarf raspberry cultivars, like Raspberry Shortcake®, are available for growing in containers.
| Recommended Blackberry Cultivars | |
|---|---|
| Cultivar | Comments |
| Eclipse | Thornless, semi-erect, floricane-bearing. Medium-large, dark, firm fruit that ripens early. Sweet flavor. |
| Galaxy | Thornless, semi-erect, floricane-bearing. Larger, sweeter fruit than Eclipse. Ripens a few days earlier. |
| Natchez | Thornless, semi-erect, floricane-bearing. Firm, glossy, oblong berries are very large. Ripens in early summer. |
| Ouachita | Thornless, semi-erect, floricane-bearing. Conical fruit with a high-gloss. Ripens mid-season. Stores well. |
|
Prime-Ark® Freedom |
Thornless, erect, primocane-bearing. Large fruits with good flavor. |
| Prime-Ark® Traveler | Thornless, erect, primocane-bearing. Medium- large, firm fruits with low acidity. |
| Sweet-Ark® Caddo | Thornless, erect, floricane-bearing. Large, flavorful fruit. Reliable bearer. Low chill-hours (300 hours). |
| Sweet-Ark® Ponca | Thornless, erect, floricane-bearing. Super-sweet, sub-acid berries from a very prolific plant. Stores well. |
| Sweetie Pie | Thornless, trailing, floricane-bearing. Large, very sweet berries. Heat-tolerant and disease-resistant. |
| Twilight | Thornless, semi-erect, floricane-bearing. Firm, dark fruit that ripens just after Eclipse. Outstanding flavor; a little tart. |
Notes: Dwarf blackberry cultivars, like Baby Cakes, are available for growing in containers. Other well-adapted thornless cultivars for Maryland include Apache, Arapaho, Navaho, Osage, Von, Triple Crown, Chester, and Hull. The latter three are trailing-type cultivars, producing very long canes.
Location and spacing
- Choose a planting site at least 300 feet from wild brambles, a potential source of diseases.
- Although bramble growth and productivity tends to be best in full sun, in warmer regions of Maryland, raspberry plants may benefit from light summer shade in the late afternoon.
- When planting in rows, red raspberry plants should be spaced 2 feet apart within the row; black and purple raspberry plants 3 feet apart; and blackberry plants 3-4 feet apart.
- Allow for 8 feet between rows if planting multiple rows.
Timing and technique
- Brambles can be sold potted or bare-root (either at local garden centers or mail-ordered). Those propagated from tissue-culture (TC) might not yet be acclimated to freezing temperatures when sold, and should be planted after the last spring frost.
- Lay the roots of bare-root plants horizontally in a 2-3 inch deep trench and cover them with soil.
- Old, dead canes attached to bare-root plants should be pruned off. New growth will come from the roots and crown.
- Remove flowers during the first year to encourage plant establishment.
Supporting stems
- All bramble plants, including those that are described as self-supporting (erect), will benefit from a sturdy trellis. This makes harvesting easier, especially on thorny-stemmed varieties, and reduces the sprawl of plants that might otherwise tip-root as stems arch down to the ground.
- Loosely tie individual canes to horizontal wires, or train canes to grow between two horizontal wires (called a T-trellis).
Suppressing weeds
- Remove weeds and turfgrass between and around raspberry plants. A weed-free zone:
- promotes rapid drying of leaves and fruit after rain and irrigation, which decreases the incidence of diseases
- reduces root competition for water and nutrients
- discourages pest insects that can be harbored by weeds
All bramble plants require annual renovation pruning – removing dead canes that have fruited to make room for new shoots from the roots or crown. Renovation pruning maintains the vigor of the plants and aids in disease and insect suppression.
Floricane-bearing plants
- When plants are dormant, remove the dead floricanes that fruited the previous season.
- Thin first-year raspberry shoots (primocanes) to a 6-inch spacing near the base (crown) of the plant. Blackberry stemsshould be thinned to 3-4 strong primocanes.
- Primocanes are also “tipped” at a 3-4 foot height to encourage lateral (side) shoots to form. The laterals are shorted to an 18 inch length for maximum fruiting.
- When removing dead, fruited canes or excess primocanes, make the cuts at ground level so that the dead stubs do not protrude where they can harbor canker-causing fungi. Remove all pruning waste from the planting area.
- During the growing season, prune out wilted, injured, and weak canes.
- Red raspberry rows should be kept under 18 inches in width to help maximize airflow and keep the lower canopy dry.
Primocane-bearing plants
- Two-crop method: After harvest, prune back first-year canes just below the lowest laterals. In late spring, flowers and fruits will form on new laterals that will grow from buds on the overwintered canes. The second-year spring harvest will be significantly less than the first-year, late-summer harvest.
In spring, thin new shoots (primocanes). Remove the second-year canes (floricanes) when they are finished fruiting. Primocanes are “tipped” at a 3-4 foot height to encourage lateral shoots to form. The laterals are shorted to a 12-18 inch length for maximum fruiting.
- One-crop method: When plants are dormant, prune out at ground level all the dead canes that fruited the previous season. In late spring, thin new shoots to a 6-inch spacing at the base. Primocanes are “tipped” at a 3-4 ft. height to encourage lateral shoots to form. The laterals are shortened to a 12-18 inch length for maximum fruiting. This method is preferred by most gardeners. The annual yield is higher and the plants are more manageable.
Resources
(Video) Blackberry Pruning Demonstration | University of Kentucky
(Video) How Do I Prune Raspberries? | University of Maine
(Video) Pruning Raspberries | University of Nebraska
- If possible, harvest in the morning after dew has dried and temperatures are still cool. Fruits harvested late in the day have retained heat that reduces storage life.
- Harvest fruit regularly to reduce the incidence of fruit rot and to prevent sap beetles and plant bugs from feeding on ripening berries.
- Ripe berries will detach easily. With blackberries, the receptacle (white inner core) stays with the harvested fruit. With raspberries, the core remains attached to the plant. Pick blackberries when the fruits lose their shine and become dull.
- Since they are delicate, fruits should be rolled off the plant, rather than squeezed or pulled, and put in shallow containers.
- Bramble fruits will continue to ripen and develop flavors after harvest, but will not get any sweeter. Refrigerate berries immediately, and only rinse them just prior to consuming or cooking them. Chilled raspberries will last about a week; blackberries will keep several days longer.
- Root cuttings (3-4 inch sections of roots) of raspberry and blackberry can be planted 2-3 inches deep in flats or containers filled with soilless growing media. The cuttings can be planted out once new shoots begin to emerge.
- Root suckers can be removed and planted in pots or new garden locations. They will require frequent watering until they establish on new roots.
- Long shoots will naturally bend over and root where the shoot tip touches bare soil. Several weeks later a new plant will grow where the shoot tip has rooted. Use a shovel or pruners to separate the new daughter plant and its roots from the mother plant. Black raspberry tip-roots readily. The shoot tipps of other bramble types can be bent over and held to the ground with a rock, brick, or landscape staple.
- Propagate only healthy, disease-free plants.
Plant Raspberries And Blackberries NOW And Double Your Berry Harvest
FAQ
Can I grow blackberries and raspberries together?
While it’s possible to grow blackberries and raspberries together, it’s generally not recommended due to potential disease transmission and management challenges. Blackberries and raspberries can be susceptible to some of the same diseases, and certain diseases can be more severe on one type of berry than the other.
What should you not plant next to raspberries?
You should not plant raspberries where tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, or eggplant have been grown within the past four years, because these crops carry a root rot called Verticillium that can also attack raspberries.
Will raspberries and blackberries cross-pollinate?
Cross-pollination can only occur within a genus. A strawberry will not cross-pollinate with a blueberry, but a raspberry can cross-pollinate with other raspberries or even blackberries. Also, the blooming periods for the plant varieties involved need to overlap or occur at the same time.
What should not be planted near blackberries?
Blackberries and asparagus compete for nutrients and space, harming yields and weakening plants. Asparagus is another heavy feeder that makes a bad companion with blackberries. These berry vines prefer light, infrequent fertilizing. On the other hand, asparagus needs a lot of nitrogen.