Autumn is a good time to prune blackberries. You need to remove excess branches so that the bush can easily survive the winter and please its owner with a good harvest when the next season begins.
If you neglect this procedure, the plant will inevitably turn into one solid cluster of impassable branches, since blackberries grow quickly and take up space around them, warns Anastasia Kovrizhnykh, an expert of the online publication BelNovosti, an agronomist, and a landscape designer.
Rules for autumn pruning of blackberries
To properly prepare blackberry bushes for the coming winter, you should cut off all shoots that have produced fruit.
This recommendation is relevant for upright and creeping varieties.
If you find it difficult to determine which branches have already “worked”, pay attention to their color: young shoots are usually light, brown or have a slightly green tint, while old ones are brown and dark, and you can see dried buds on them.
After this, you should eliminate those branches on which damage caused by pests was noticed. Shoots with cracked bark, swellings and other damages are subject to removal.
Please note: stumps tend to rot, which means that the vines should be cut off at the root.
Young shoots should also be pruned, leaving only the healthiest and strongest specimens. Thin, weak and short branches with weak bark will not survive the winter.
Gardeners usually save 5-8 such branches. They are shortened to two meters in length, and the side shoots - to 0.6 meters.
Lastly, the work should be carried out wearing protective gloves, using sterile and sharp pruning shears.
Expert: Anastasia Kovrizhnykh
