Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi,
Just joined the forum and have a quick question. Can you tame a wild blackberry? I have just got back from the plot having picked some lovely blackberries from an overgrown patch of brambles and instead of digging the up would like to control them.
Dan2plots.

Evening Dan2plots and a warm welcome to the forum.

I suppose it depends what you mean by tame it! If the patch isn't too big for what you want, you could treat it like you would a cultivated form. When last years stems have finished fruiting, cut them all out, just leaving the strong new shoots. But if these get long and touch the ground, they will root and extend the area of the bramble patch, as they do if left to there own devices....you can always shorten these new shoots, if they are getting too long.

Welcome to the forum Dan. I think the flavour of wild blackberries is superior to the cultivated varieties but generally the fruits can be much smaller. so if you have the space and feel it's worth trying to "tame" them you may have to do some rather drastic pruning first as OH suggests. Also digging around the root area to remove all the weeds and sprinkling in some general fertiliser in spring will probably get its new state off to a good start. You may find you get bigger fruits over time with this sort of care and attention but this of course, will also be influenced by rainfall levels too.
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Just make sure you're wearing some good protective gloves when you're handling the canes. The thorns can be quite viscious. And protect your eyes too !

If it is a big patch you can simplify the pruning by cutting half the area down to the ground, new and old, each year. Had some relatives with a farm with a rough area and they just flattened some patches each year so they always had vigorous young plants.

Not sure what Percy Thrower would think to that, Geoff.....but a blooming good idea....

Many thanks for the suggestions. Although the berries are on the small size I agree the flavor is better than the cultivated.