Garden Black Blackberry is no less useful semi -bush, like raspberries. However, this plant is infrequent in garden areas. Many gardeners believe that this culture requires too much care, so they do not want to plant it in their garden.
However, this culture is no more demanding on growing conditions than raspberries and other shrubs.
Types of blackberries
There are several forms of blackberries:
erect;
creeping;
transitional.
The removal of the varietal blackberry is engaged in America, England and a number of other countries. The most popular are varieties such as agaves, Darrow, Loghanberry, abundant and a number of others.
How to choose a variety for landing
To grow this berry half -brush, attention should be paid to the following qualities of blackberries:
stability to frost;
berry maturation time;
resistance to diseases and pests;
Productivity.
The most resistant to low temperatures are the following varieties: agaves, Darrow and a number of other varieties bred by American breeders.
Among the sheltering species of blackberries for the early stages of sleep and productivity are valued such varieties as Amara, Blacks.
When to plant
This berry plant can be planted both in early spring and in the third decade of September. Each gardener decides for himself when to plant a blackberry on his site.
In the spring, the blackberry should be planted at once, as the soil warms up after winter, until the kidneys on the bushes began to swell. In the autumn period, it is necessary to plant these bushes at such a time that before the first frosts, the blackberry manages to take root.
Landing rules
When choosing a plot on which this half -bush will grow, it must be ensured that it is solar and protected from strong winds. Most often, blackberry is planted along the fence enclosing the site. The fence will protect the plants from drafts and winds, and the bushes can also be tied to it as they grow.
Also, the place for blackberries should be chosen taking into account the fact that the plant must be covered for the winter, so there should be free access to the blackberry for the gardener.
This semicircle grows on almost all types of soil. In the fall, before planting seedlings of this berry, pour over the soil with humus or rotted compost 14 cm thick.
When planting blackberries in the spring, the soil is dug into one bayonet shovel. Half a gear mixed with 3 tablespoons of potassium salt and a glass of fertilizer containing phosphorus is poured into each pit.
The distance between the blackberry bushes during landing should be about 1 m. And for creeping species – at least 2.5 m both between the holes and between the rows.
The seedlings before planting are kept in a container of water for at least 41/2 days. After such a procedure, planted shrubs can not be watered – blackberries tolerates dry soil than stagnation of water in the ground.
The soil after planting the bushes should be thoroughly tamped.
Care
Caring for this half -brush consists in fairly frequent watering during flowering and ripening of fruits, loosening of aisle and weed combat.
Bushes of the second year of life should be tied in spring to trellises in order to protect from possible gusts of wind and excessive overload of the stems during the resting of the berries. Moreover, stems with berries are tied in one direction, and growing shoots – in the other.
You can also form blackberry bushes with waves, ropes or fans.
And the rest of the other plant care during the season is not required.
Fertilizer
When planting blackberries, all the basic necessary fertilizers are introduced into the soil, so during the first season it can be no longer fed by. Usually, feeding under this berry shrub begins to subjugate after the plant bloomed for the first time. At this moment he needs only phosphorus mineral fertilizers. However, they must be made moderately, since with the excessive content of this trace element in the soil, the blackberry begins to hurt.
In the next seasons, a rotted manure, riding peat or ash are introduced under this half -bush once per season. Two to three times a season, you can make chicken droppings under the bushes.
Propagation and preparation for winter
Mostly, black blackberries prefer to propagate all varieties with layering, and not by dividing the bush. When dividing the root of the mother bush, the plant is sick for a long time, so it grows worse and fruit.
In order to propagate the blackberry with layering, a number of conditions should be followed:
On the site where layering will grow, there should be no bright light;
There should be air access to the root system of the growing seedling;
The soil around should be constantly moist;
growing seedlings require enough heat.
Typically, rooting with layering is carried out in the spring, so that before the fall, the layers form its own root system. In early September, such seedlings are separated from the maternal stem and give them the opportunity to adapt to independent existence. Che6, for a month, these bushes can already be calmly transplanted to a permanent place.
Typically, before the onset of cold weather, blackberry bushes are neatly unscrewed from trellises, lay on the ground and covered with straw, dried leaves or peat. Когда выпадает снег, то и его следует насыпать сверху слоя мульчи большим сугробом, чтобы предохранить ежевику от морозов.
