Blackberry question

I have some blackberry bushes I need to move but I want to do it right (one time only). What spacing would you recommend for the plants, and for the rows so that I can cultivate between the rows with a tiller and not damage the roots or myself? How high does the support for them need to be, about eye level for ease of picking?

i believe it is 4' between bushes i'm not sure on the rows but i would think maybe the same.

Depends on the variety.4' is pretty much standard,but we had some get so big when I was a kid that we laid an extension ladder up against them to pick.The canes got huge and the berries were as big as the end of your thumb.

YUMMMMMMMM! Mine are buried in weeds next to a fence and being carefully pruned off by my horses whenever the canes grow through the wire fence. I've had a few berry samples from them but not enough to do anything with. I'm getting tired of waiting for a crop.

Hi MaryE. I just learned on the chat yesterday that member Lenjo lived on a berry farm in OR...I bet you could email her and find out lots of good transplanting and growing tips. Good luck with your berries.

Mary, just come on over and I will be glad to show you anything and everything and we could pick you some marions which are ripe now. There has got to be some endurance ride around here close, don't you think?

Thanks Joann, that does sound like fun. You have posted such pretty pictures and I would love to meet you and see it all. There is a ride real close to you up in the hills above Mololla but I probably will be going in another direction this year since there are 2 rides on the same date. Maybe I'll just get over there in the car sometime. For cultivation with a large Troy Built tiller I'm thinking 6 feet might be better than 4, what do you think? I emagine your rows are much farther apart due to cultivating on a commercial scale with a tractor.

Mary, we planted ours about 3' apart with about 5' between the rows. We planted Gill Over the Ground in between the rows to reduce mowing and the insect population. Don't plan on tilling between the rows as that will damage the roots. Under the ground(not far under the surface most of time)running roots are how new plants show up. Do till deeply before planting and add lots of organic amendments. Mulch from a barn is good for controling weeds and feeding the berry plants. We have ours growing against American wire with posts every 10' or so. The fencing is about 8" off the ground so we can weed eat if needed. Concrete blocks held it up while we fastened it to the posts. Best wishes and GOD bless you and yours.

Commercially, Mary, we raise the evergreen blackberries 9 feet by 9 feet, that is 9 feet between plants and 9 feet between rows, the marion blackberries are 9 by 6 , we plant marions a little closer together. In the garden with a Troy bilt I would definitely grow them closer together all around like maybe 6 by 6. We always work the ground between the rows with a tractor and rotovator, some farmers here do not cultivate the ground in the rows and allow grass to grow and they just keep that mowed. If you do that you will need to water and fertilize more heavily. I agree with leaflady, rotted compost on a small scale would be much superior to chemical fertilizer.Yesterday was the first harvest day of marions and we noticed a little bit of a worm problem and we had used an insecticidal spray. DH's cousin used two different sprays for worms and still had more than we did. He does not cultivate his ground but mows grass in between the rows. His crop never seems to be as heavy as ours and now he is having a harder time controlling worms. I know my DH thinks it could have to do with cultivating the ground or not.
I don't know what kind of blackberries you are raising but it is true like with the evergreens if you work too deeply or too close to the plants it will cause the plants to send up shoots and these shoots will have thorns where the original plant is not thorny. The Marion berries already have thorns but they are such a superior tasting berry that you just work with the thorns. It doesn't have a problem with the root damage as the evergreens.

Mary, I would love to have you visit. My new son in law works for Cycle Oregon and this year they will be riding right through Baker City. We are considering coming over but that is evergreen season so my hubby doesn't want to commit himself yet. We would love to see the Wallowas.

The berry plants I have were given to me, free if I dug them up. She said they were Marions, but I don't know, I'll take a picture of the vine and see if you can ID it for me. When is the Cycle Oregon tour comming through Baker City? I would love to meet you.

Here they are.

Another view.

Mary, these almost look like boysen berries. That is a great tasting berry too. Do you have your berries planted near the fence to climb on or is it just a fence that is close? You do realize after the canes produce fruit for the year those canes will not produce fruit again and they will have to be cut out and the new canes will have to be trained up. We use a two wire system and since you are so much colder over there, you would probably want to mulch your plants over winter, covering with straw or hay. Below 15 degrees there can be damage to the canes and very hot can burn your berries too. But with a garden amount you can pick as often as needed.

I will have to ask Mark, SIL, when Cycle Oregon comes through Baker City.It is somewhere in the 2nd or 3rd week of September.

Boysen berries, hmmmm, never thought of that. The few samples I have had tasted great whatever they are. I planted them near the fence thinking I would persuade them to grow the other way toward a row of asparagus. Well, of course they kind of go both ways and it is too narrow to get the tiller between them and there is no way to tie them up so the horses can't get to them, so I thought I would give them a home of their own and something for support. The fence you see in the pictures separates the garden from the pasture. The horses not only eat whatever sticks out through the wires but also they reach over the top and down as far as possible to nibble. I have observed that the last year's canes just die and never have any green on them the next year, so I would just cut them down near the ground, mulch them and try to tie them up as they grow back. I use only organic fertilizer, right from the horses via the compost pile. Thanks for the information about the bike tour, I do hope you will get to come over. I have a ride in Idaho on Sept 20 and would have to be gone Friday and Sunday too, but maybe we can work something out if you are here during the week.