Preparing blackberries for winter: pruning in the fall and covering. Garden blackberries: pruning and preparing for winter

Blackberries, which are also called brambles, and in the south - ozhin (azhin), are tasty and healthy. And it looks beautiful if it is provided with proper care in the garden. One of the main points is to prune blackberries at least twice a year, in autumn and spring. Without this there will be no good harvest.

Why is pruning needed?

Garden blackberry - biennial plant. The shoots of the first year do not bear fruit, they only grow - they reserve strength and lay fruit buds. In the second year, they are covered with delicate flowers, from which berries are subsequently formed. After a harvest, usually abundant, the shoots quickly age, nevertheless expending strength and nutrition, depriving young branches. Proper pruning of spent “old ones” is a guarantee of a future excellent harvest.

It is also necessary to cut out in a timely manner root shoots, which blackberries provide with enviable consistency. The offspring quickly thicken the bush, depriving it of sufficient light and air, which leads to the development of numerous diseases.

Suitable times for pruning blackberries are spring and autumn. Each pruning has its own characteristics and purposes. In addition, gardeners often prune bushes in the summer.

Pruning is performed with a sharply sharpened sterile instrument. All sections are immediately covered with garden varnish.

It is quite difficult to process thorny bushes; due to the pervasive thorns, blackberries were not particularly often grown in gardens. A breakthrough can be considered the appearance of the first variety without thorns - Thornfree blackberries (translated from English - “without thorns”) in the 60s of the last century. The emergence of new varieties and hybrids, devoid of thorns, has significantly contributed to the popularity of the berry.

Spring pruning

The main goal of spring pruning of blackberries, thorny and non-thorny varieties, is to free the bush from branches damaged during the winter (broken by the wind, frozen, with signs of disease) and the formation of a fruit-bearing plant.

Pruning is carried out when the snow has just melted, the average daily air temperature is about 5-7 ° C, above zero at night, the buds have not yet begun to swell. Specific dates are determined by the climatic and meteorological conditions of the area. You can refer to the general guidelines:

in the south, pruning is carried out from early March to mid-April;
in the Central regions and middle lane– from the second half of April;
in the Urals and Siberia - from the second half of May.

Spring pruning has its own characteristics for bushes of different ages. Whether they deal with a regular variety or a thornless variety, it also doesn’t matter. A mandatory element of the program is the sanitary component: removal of frostbitten and broken branches.

Frozen branches are easy to distinguish: they turn black and become brittle. Successfully overwintered shoots retain their elasticity, they Brown, with a slight shine.

The first treatment is carried out immediately after landing, cutting the shoots of seedlings to a height of 20-25 cm to stimulate the development and strengthening of roots. A rooted bush will produce numerous green shoots, which will have to be controlled in the summer, since the length of the branches can reach 2-3 m.

The second year is notable for the anticipation of the harvest. To push the blackberry to abundant flowering and setting a large number of fruits, cut off the tops. The remaining buds will throw out young strong shoots that will bring good harvest.

At the same time, the root shoots are shortened so that they form a large number of young shoots.

In the third year, shoots that bore fruit last year are cut out. Then the strongest shoots from last year's growth are selected, fixed on trellises and the bush is thinned. The selected shoots should show no signs of damage by insect pests or diseases.

From the fourth year, pruning in the spring is carried out according to the above scheme of replacing fruit-bearing branches with young shoots.

Old shoots are removed strictly at the root so as not to provoke the development of putrefactive diseases. Diseases can short time completely destroy a healthy bush.

They act somewhat differently with remontant varieties of blackberries, among which there are many varieties without thorns. Since all the branches are cut out in the fall, with the onset of warmth the bush produces many young shoots ready for fruiting. They are thinned out, leaving from 5 to 20 pieces, depending on the age of the bush. The selection principle is strong, healthy shoots. Thin, small, weak ones are removed.

Caring for blackberries after spring pruning

After pruning, blackberries need especially careful care, consisting of three stages.

Garter on trellises according to one of three patterns adopted for blackberries - fan, wavy or rope. The second and third are recommended for creeping varieties, otherwise called dewberries. The shoots are tied up, dividing them by age, directing the fruit-bearing branches in one direction, and the replacement branches in the other. The division will subsequently make it easier to pick berries and prune the bush in the fall.
Loosening the soil to a depth of 10-15 cm to ensure aeration of the roots and facilitate access to moisture and nutrients.
Watering is carried out daily, but be sure to monitor its necessity: if the soil is still wet, the procedure is postponed. It is optimal to water the bushes in the early morning or before sunset.

Common mistakes when carrying out spring pruning

Often gardeners, especially beginners, make annoying mistakes in pruning garden blackberries, leading to a decrease in yield.

Violation of deadlines - sometimes shrubs are pruned without waiting for above-zero night temperatures. Haste leads to freezing of fruit buds, reducing the chances of a good harvest.
Incorrect pruning, when young shoots are cut out and a crown is formed from fruit-bearing branches.
Irregularity of pruning, when the event turns from annual to “I’ll prune someday.” The bushes grow wild, the size of the berries decreases, and their taste deteriorates.
Too many shoots are left on the bush. They will experience a lack of nutrition, which will not only affect the yield, but also cause harm - weakening of the plant, disease, death.
They leave weak and diseased shoots that take away the lion's share nutrients obtained by blackberries.

The optimal number of shoots intended for fruiting is 4-5 for erect varieties, 7-10 for creeping ones.

Autumn pruning

The procedure is mandatory, as it is an essential part of preparing garden blackberry plantings for winter. The process of covering thorny shoots is quite labor-intensive, and if you leave the bush without pruning, it will be very difficult to cope with its insulation - the length of the lashes and their large number complicate the work.

All varieties - prickly and without thorns - are subject to autumn pruning.

The timing of autumn pruning is determined by the length of the growing season of the variety; pruning begins in mid-September.

The first step is to remove all old branches so that the nutrients necessary for a successful winter are distributed among the young shoots. At the same time, unpromising shoots are cut out: weak, overly elongated, thin, damaged by pest attacks.
The next step is to determine the load of the bush. TO optimal quantity For a given variety (species), two or three “safety” shoots are added in case of freezing. The rest are mercilessly cut out.
The remaining shoots are shortened by a quarter, making a cut 1 cm above the bud looking outward.
The autumn pruning is completed by cleaning. All trimmings and dry leaves are raked from the bushes and burned. This is done not so much for aesthetic purposes, but to prevent the proliferation of pests that spend the winter in the garbage and to prevent the development of diseases. The soil next to the blackberries is generously mulched with peat or sawdust.

Gaining popularity remontant varieties Blackberries (bearing fruit on the shoots of the first year) are pruned to the very roots in the fall.

In the south, where bushes overwinter without shelter, the shoots are cut to the same length - approximately 1.5-1.8 m.

Autumn pruning is combined with the preparation of cuttings for subsequent propagation of berry bushes.

Typical mistakes when pruning in autumn:

postponing pruning to the spring - this weakens the bush, the shoots do not have time to fully ripen by winter, which is why wintering often ends in diseases and death of plants;
they leave too many shoots, which also makes it difficult to prepare for winter.

It is better to leave a few absolutely healthy shoots than to overload the bush with weakened growth that is unlikely to survive the winter.

Is summer pruning of blackberries necessary?

Upright blackberry varieties are leaders in the formation of root shoots. The lashes growing from adventitious root buds grow up to 3 m long over a season, thickening the mother bush, making it lightproof.

Creeping varieties do not indulge in root shoots, but replacement shoots growing from the root reach a length of about 10 m, cluttering up the area and often squeezing through the fence to the neighbors.

Root shoots can be used to propagate your favorite blackberry variety. The shoot is dug up, separated from the main rhizome with a piece of root and planted. The procedure can be carried out throughout the entire growing season, but spring seedlings take root much better. Unfortunately, for large-fruited and hybrid varieties the method is unsuitable.

To get a good harvest of berries, summer shoots are either cut out at the root or significantly shortened so that they do not interfere with the setting and ripening of a full-fledged harvest. An option is possible when they limit themselves to pinching the apical bud.

First-year bushes are pruned in the summer. They are shortened by 10-15 cm. In erect species, this stimulates the formation of lateral shoots. Creeping blackberries push out new fruit branches. At the same time, the emerging buds are cut off, since in the first year only one thing is required from blackberries - a strong, healthy root system.

Gardeners often use summer (before flowering) pruning of fruiting branches, which not only stimulates the growth of lateral shoots, but also moves the bulk of the ripening berries to the middle part of the branches. This does not affect the yield, but the size and taste of the berries become more attractive.

It is advisable in the summer to monitor and promptly remove shoots that show signs of diseases, nesting sites for pests, or are simply weak and unpromising. The sooner the bush is rid of such ballast, the better it will feel. It is also worth regularly cutting out young shoots that thicken the bush.

When inspecting blackberry bushes in the spring, their viability is assessed by counting the number of branches that have successfully overwintered. If out of 8-10 shoots left for the winter, 6 or more are not damaged or received minor damage, then the bush is strong and will produce a good harvest. There are 4-5 healthy branches left - average. If 2-3 shoots emerge from wintering intact, it is better to dig up such a bush, since there is nothing to expect from it.

Blackberry pruning – important element plant care. Out of habit, the process may seem difficult, but you can’t do without it. Correct and timely pruning of shrubs gives a brilliant result - a good harvest of berries with a pleasant taste and healing properties.

Garden blackberries are not yet as widespread among amateurs as their relative, raspberries. Therefore, gardeners who plant this shrub are not always sure that they will be successful. However, it turns out that caring for blackberries is not that difficult. Certain operations are also necessary in the autumn.

Basic measures for caring for blackberries in autumn

Autumn affairs in berry garden well known: these are watering, fertilizing, loosening the soil, mulching, pruning and preparing for winter. Many shrubs are treated for pests and diseases in the fall. Watering blackberries is carried out only in the event of a dry autumn: although they love moisture, they do not need excess water during the preparation for winter, especially if there is mulch in the garden bed. Water-recharging watering, like all garden plants, is carried out for blackberries just before winter, while simultaneously feeding the plants.

Top dressing

In most private farms, they prefer to feed blackberries, like raspberries. organic fertilizers. It is not advisable to introduce fresh manure, but good humus can be added “from the heart” for the autumn digging of the site. This is done immediately after leaf fall, while the soil can still be worked with. First, all plant waste is removed from the site and burned.

In the rows of the berry garden, rotted manure is scattered in a layer of 6–12 cm. To enhance the effect, you can add a little mineral fertilizer on top of it: phosphorus and potassium. From phosphorus, superphosphate is usually used, from potassium - potassium sulfate: it is not advisable to apply chlorine to blackberries. How many? A small handful per 1 m2. Principled opponents of “chemistry” can use wood ash: a liter jar for the same area will be quite useful.

Rotted manure - best fertilizer for berry bushes

After applying fertilizers, the soil is dug up shallowly: near the bushes no deeper than 5 cm, further away - up to 10 cm. No additional mulch is required after this.

Long before fertilizing, blackberries must be pruned. This is done with sharp pruning shears immediately after the fruit-bearing shoots dry out. However, the first stage of pruning can be carried out immediately after harvesting the last portions of the crop. Old shoots are cut off close to the ground, leaving no stumps, and at the same time cutting out the weakest shoots, as well as dried annual shoots. The same fate should await diseased and severely damaged branches. Everything cut out must be burned, after which a more difficult moment begins.

Proper pruning of blackberries requires knowledge of their structure. The bush bears fruit on shoots of the second year of life. However, in most cases, when good care More shoots are formed than are necessary for normal fruiting, and they greatly thicken the area. Therefore, some of the young shoots also go under the knife. When should this audit be carried out? You can do it in 2-3 weeks, when it becomes clear which shoots are far behind in development.

We must try to make sure that the bush consists of 8–10 of the most strong shoots current year, evenly spaced. The rest (the thinnest, weakest and unripe) should be cut out. The remaining shoots are slightly shortened (by about a quarter of the total length), which causes abundant flowering next year. Proper pruning increases both the yield of blackberries and its frost resistance, and also eliminates foci of diseases and pest egg laying.

There is no need to be afraid to cut out an extra shoot: all movements must be confident, it will be worse if it remains sick or damaged

Preventative treatment

Not all gardeners spray blackberries against diseases and pests for preventive purposes. Of course, you don’t want to have unnecessary chemicals in the garden, and if the agricultural technology is in order, this shrub rarely gets sick. But it is necessary to remember that the majority of pests and pathogens overwinter in fallen leaves. Therefore, immediately after the leaves fall, all debris from the berry garden should be removed and burned.

What should you do after this? After all, the remaining pests will be buried in the ground when the owner, most likely, will apply fertilizers and dig up (loosen) the area. And yet, you should not neglect spraying the bushes with at least the most harmless preparations for fungal diseases. Fungi and most pathogens of other diseases are effectively destroyed by 1% Bordeaux mixture if you spray blackberries with it immediately after removing the garbage, affecting the top layer of soil.

Shelter for the winter

Blackberries are not as afraid of cold weather as they are of fluctuations in winter weather, when severe frosts give way to unexpected thaws. Therefore, in most regions it has to be covered for the winter. At the same time, no matter what type of shelter is chosen, one must beware of damping off of the shoots and roots, that is, the plants cannot be hermetically sealed. Polyethylene film a boycott should be declared.

They begin to cover blackberries after the onset of stable cold weather, but before severe frosts.

Before sheltering for the winter, the shoots are collected into convenient bundles and tied loosely with twine or rope. Precisely freely: the bunches must be gently laid on the ground, trying not to break the fragile stems. The closer to the ground they are located, the better, and in order to be securely held, thick wire staples are used to pin the stems to the ground. It’s even better to place them not on the ground, but on a mat of matting or boards.

The blackberry bush grows unusually quickly: the green growth of the shoot is about 10 cm within 24 hours. Without pruning, blackberries will quickly turn into impenetrable thickets. The quality, of course, is useful if blackberries are planted along the boundaries of the site as a hedge. Only it will not be possible to collect a lot of berries from such a bush - all the growth force will be spent on the formation of green mass.

Why prune blackberries in the fall?

In order not to lose control of the situation, the growth of garden plants is regulated by pruning. Plants with a 2-year development cycle (blackberries, raspberries, grapes, etc.) need timely removal of fruit-bearing branches because:

Old branches take away nutrients from young shoots, shade the bush and worsen the conditions for ripening of wood;
The winter hardiness of the plant deteriorates;
A thickened blackberry bush is difficult to cover for the winter;
Pruning “for fruiting” normalizes the harvest load among all branches, promotes proper development and regular fruit production.

The blackberry bush is formed throughout the growing season. Autumn pruning does not just end the season - the wintering of the bush and its productivity in the winter depend on it. next year.

General principles of blackberry pruning for beginners

Shortening shoots - final and important stage berry trimmings. It is important to carry out correct pruning the right shoots at the right distance and at the right time.

After harvesting, the fruit-bearing canes are removed - cut at ground level without stumps;
Necessarily cut out all pest-damaged, weak, broken shoots - they will not survive the winter;
All remaining branches are shortened by 1/4 of the length, which helps to increase the next year’s yield;
8-10 shoots are left on each bush, with the expectation that the required 6-8 will survive the winter, and the remaining ones can be cut out in the spring.
All cut shoots are taken outside the planting area and burned. Fallen leaves are also subject to destruction. You should not use parts of stems and leaves for mulching, because... they can be sources of diseases and contain pests prepared for winter.
In the spring, the bushes are inspected. Frozen branches are black, brittle, loose. Living wood is elastic, brown, shiny. All frozen branches are removed completely, frozen ones - to the nearest living bud. If in the spring there are 6-8 shoots left - this is very good, 4-6 - you can get a slightly smaller harvest, but the berries will be larger, 3 or less - the harvest will be small, but the fruits will be large.

Hemp is a breeding ground for diseases and pests. Leaving them is contraindicated; the branches must be cut flush to the ground.

Timing of autumn pruning

The concept " autumn pruning"includes all operations for the formation of a bush in the second half of the growing season. It begins immediately after harvesting. Thorough thinning of the bushes before sheltering for the winter helps solve the main problem - to prepare the plant for winter and increase productivity in the next season.

Name it exactly optimal time Autumn pruning is not possible. The starting point is harvesting the last wave of berries. The specific date depends on many factors:

region with its climate characteristics;
features of planting placement. Lighting, relief and soil conditions affect the timing of ripening;
varieties and varieties of crops (early and late date maturation, normal and remontant);
features of agricultural technology (cultivation of crops manually or intensively mechanized).

Tools for pruning berry bushes

You should start pruning blackberries well prepared. Even cultivated species are strewn with large thorns and bristles that you cannot pick up with your bare hands. Pruning should begin by first preparing the following garden tools:

pruner;
lopper with long handles;
garden hacksaw.

You can’t do without protective equipment - thick gloves, sleeves and an apron.

It is recommended to cover fresh cuts of wood with garden varnish. A well-adjusted and sharpened pruner gives an even cut without damaging the wood fibers. It is not necessary to process such cuts - in dry weather the cut will cork within 24 hours.

Differences in pruning erect and creeping varieties

Breeders have presented gardeners with almost 300 varieties of cultivated blackberries. They differ not only in the quality of the harvest. The structure of the plant, the shape of the crown, the timing of ripening and the type of fruiting - all these characteristics require an individual approach to the formation of the bush and its pruning. Agronomists divided blackberry varieties into 3 categories:

upright varieties, they are also called “kumanikam”;
creeping - “sundews”;
remontant.

They all require different approach to pruning - the schemes are different.

Important

All varieties of blackberries should be grown on a trellis. It has been experimentally proven that productivity increases by at least 50%.

The branches are attached to the wire in the prescribed manner.
For fastening, use twine, elastic bands or plumbing clamps.

The main advantage is that it makes caring for thorny bushes much easier.

Upright varieties

Autumn pruning begins before the arrival of calendar autumn - immediately after picking the berries. It is not recommended to delay the start of the operation - this is important to prepare the plant for winter.

You should remember the sequence of actions when pruning:

All 2-year-old shoots are cut out from the central part of the crown at the root (without leaving a stump);
Among the young 1-year-old branches, 7-10 of the most developed ones are selected - the rest are cut off flush with the soil level;
The stems left for further growth and fruiting are shortened by 1/4 from the top of the shoot. Pruning encourages the formation of more flower stalks the following year. The sections are treated with garden mastic (varnish).

Upright varieties are considered more resistant to frost, but they are quite difficult to bend down for shelter for the winter. Powerful stems have little flexibility and can simply break. It is important to give them the desired shape in the spring, which will allow bending with minimal effort.

Correct formation of an erect blackberry bush:

all two-year-old shoots are directed strictly vertically, directly above the roots of the plant;
young shoots are placed in both directions, fixing the trellis on the lower wires, periodically repeating the tying to maintain the horizontal shape of the stems;
in the fall, all two-year-old shoots are pruned, and young shoots that already have a horizontal shape are pruned and thinned to 7-10 pieces. from the bush and take cover;
in the spring these shoots will “sprout” vertically.

Creeping varieties

Sundew is convenient to grow on string trellises. On the wire, the crown of the bush is distributed in 2 directions - overwintered shoots in one direction, young shoots in the other.

As the bush grows, young shoots are tied to a wire;
During the growing season, root shoots are removed;
After picking the berries, fully fruited 2-year-old shoots are cut off;
Shoots of the 1st year are left in the amount of 6-8 pieces. 4-6 is enough, but taking into account the difficulty of wintering, 2 spare shoots are left;
The remaining shoots are shortened by 1/4 of the length.

Creeping and semi-cresting varieties of blackberries require constant monitoring, since the crown thickens very quickly, which worsens the conditions for wood ripening - preparation for winter.

Creeping blackberries form shoots up to 10 m long, so it is better to ration their quantity throughout the season, leaving no more than 8-10 stems. Excess shoots will waste a large amount of nutrients that are necessary for the ripening of berries and the formation of wood of the shoots that we plan to leave.

Remontant varieties

The harvest is formed on annual shoots that grow back after the cover is removed in the spring. Unlike ordinary varieties, remontant varieties bear fruit until frost. The rules for pruning such plants are extremely simple.

After the first frost, the entire bush is cut down to zero;
The root zone is covered with a layer of mulch - straw, sawdust, leaves, etc.;
For insulation, a 2nd layer of thermal protection is laid - agrofibre, burlap, spruce branches.

Pinching of shoots and formation of a bush is carried out in the next season.

What is the difference between pruning blackberry bushes by region?

Blackberries are grown throughout Russia. Differences in climatic conditions leave their mark on all operations for caring for berry crops.

The principles of pruning depend on the species of the variety. Specific problems that can threaten the winter hardiness of a plant depend on the region. The gardener should take them into account in order to properly prepare blackberries for winter.

Krasnodar region

Peculiarities: fairly warm winters with little snow and thaws;

Implementation method: The more frost-resistant upright varieties of blackberries do not need to be bent down to the ground, but be sure to mulch the tree trunk circle. Covering sundew varieties should be placed on boards to avoid getting wet during thaws.

Moscow region

Peculiarities: cold winters are usually sufficient quantity snow;

Implementation method: All varieties need to be covered. You should take care of snow retention; if there is not enough snow, cover the bushes additionally.

Siberia

Peculiarities: cold winters and dry winds;

Implementation method: low temperatures and cold dry winds require special attention to the blackberry shelter. Bushes should be removed and prepared before the onset of frost. After the first frost, insulate the bed with mulch and cover it tightly with fabric or spruce branches.

It would not be amiss to remind you that experimenting with growing southern varieties in the cold north it is at least unreasonable. The plant will lack heat and light - it will not be possible to obtain southern harvests. Unusual winter conditions will destroy the plantings.

For your own peace of mind, you should purchase zoned varieties from special nurseries. Such plants will not be delivered unnecessary problems and they will delight you with the harvest for many years.

Pruning shoots and forming a bush is the most important part of caring for blackberries. These events are held several times during the season. And if in the spring they are primarily of an aesthetic and sanitary nature, then the autumn pruning of blackberries has a broader meaning - it guarantees a safe wintering of the bush and abundant fruiting next year. Without having certain skills and knowledge, pruning is quite difficult, so novice gardeners often have a question: when should you prune blackberries, and how to do it correctly? The article describes in detail about autumn pruning of garden blackberries.

Garden blackberries, like most representatives of the Rubus genus, are characterized by a two-year development cycle. Thus, with a perennial rhizome, the useful life of the above-ground part (shoots) is calculated at two years: in the first year, the young shoot grows, is looked after, covered for the winter, and by the second year it becomes woody, blooms in the spring, and then bears a harvest. This is where its function ends, and immediately after harvest (in September) it must be removed. If old stems are not removed, they interfere with the growth of new shoots and thicken the bush.

It should be clarified that not only old, outdated shoots are subject to pruning, but also part of the young annual shoots. Weak, too thin or diseased stems of the first year must be removed at the base, and healthy and promising ones must be shortened by 20–40 cm. This pruning promotes abundant flowering next spring.

When pruning a bush for the winter, do not spare it - feel free to cut out all that is unnecessary. Blackberries have incredible growth vigor, and the more shoots that are removed, the more new ones grow.

The tops of young stems can be shortened by a third, since the fruiting zone of blackberries is located in the center of the shoot.

In general, autumn pruning has several goals:

efficient consumption of nutrients - old and spent shoots also need nutrition;
elimination of shadow - old shoots create additional shadow, which slows down the ripening of berries;
increasing winter hardiness and preservation for the winter - thickened shoots with old woody shoots are much more difficult to cover than young flexible shoots;
increased productivity - pruning young shoots in the fall promotes abundant flowering and fruiting;
strengthening the bush - if the blackberry thickets are thinned out, the young stems become more powerful and strong.

Trimming technology

Autumn pruning is carried out after the end of the harvest. For most varieties, this period occurs at the beginning of September. However, there is garden blackberry with two waves of fruiting - for such varieties the pruning procedure is carried out a little later (in October).

To perform pruning correctly, you need to follow the following sequence:

At the first stage, all shoots that bear fruit this year are removed - they should be cut at the root, without leaving stumps, as they can rot, and this process should be spread to healthy branches.
Among young shoots, insufficiently developed ones (short, thin) are also removed at the root - they will not bear fruit, so there is no need to leave them.
Further complete removal(at the root) all diseased and damaged shoots are subject to treatment - they will not survive the winter and, moreover, can infect healthy branches.
Now, based on the state of the root system, we calculate the possible load on the bush. On average, a healthy plant can fully provide nutrients 6–8 fruiting shoots, so we leave 10 of the strongest ones, in case several branches do not survive in winter, and cut the rest at the root.
We shorten the remaining shoots by about 20–30 cm; if the branches are very long, you can cut more. It is correct to prune immediately above the bud.

In this state, the bush is covered for the winter. The cover is removed in the spring, in March or April, it all depends on the temperature. Plants freed from shelter must be inspected for the integrity and viability of the shoots. Healthy branches are elastic in appearance, with shiny brownish bark; frozen branches are loose and brittle and should be removed. Wintering is considered successful if 5–6 branches are preserved; it’s also good if there are 4 left – the yield will be lower. good level. Three or fewer healthy lashes will not bring big harvest, but the berries will be larger.

Bush formation

Since garden blackberries are different types and shapes, pruning does not always occur quickly and successfully. It all depends on what kind of blackberry you are growing: creeping or erect. For example, upright bushes are more difficult to cover, since the shoots bend poorly and are very brittle, while creeping blackberries can form real thickets of long lashes, which are sometimes difficult to even divide.

To somehow simplify the pruning process, bush formation is used - the direction of the shoots in the desired direction.

As a rule, formation is carried out in the spring, but if by autumn the bush has grown greatly and pruning has become difficult, then you can arrange the plants before pruning.

For blackberries with erect shoots, it is correct and convenient to use the fan forming method, which is as follows:

All shoots must be lifted vertically onto the trellis, directly above the root.
Next, we divide the bush into two parts and direct the lashes on both sides, like a fan, tying them to the bottom of the trellis.
Now that all the shoots are visible in the root part, we first cut out at the root all the old shoots that bore fruit this year.
Then we remove weak, too thin and diseased young branches.
We leave 8–10 of the strongest young shoots and shorten them by a quarter (20–40 cm).
We remove the lashes from the support, press them to the ground and cover them with insulation.

The formation of creeping blackberry bushes occurs in a slightly different way. Its many-meter long weaving shoots bend beautifully, but cutting and shaping them is very difficult, so the following method is used:

The shoots are divided into old ones (bearing fruit this year) and young ones, which will bear fruit next year.
Then, they are wound on a trellis, like a thread on a spool - the old ones in one direction, for example, to the right, and the young ones to the left.
We cut out the old growth at the root.
Of the young shoots, we leave 8–10 of the strongest ones and cut out the rest.
Next, we remove the blackberries from the trellis, roll them up again, place them in a prepared trench for wintering, and cover them.

Remontant berry varieties deserve special attention. Their pruning and covering is the simplest event in all agricultural technology. You just need to cut out all the shoots that formed over the summer at the root and cover them with any insulating material - in the spring new vines will grow, which will bloom and delight you with a bountiful harvest.