Braided Canes:
In early Spring, or anytime cane shoots are soft and movable begin to weave them into a braid.
The braid of canes later shades the fruiting branches and as you braid through the seasons the fruit gets better and better. The whole weave becomes a structure so it can bear larger fruit in bigger numbers. Because you are pulling all the cane shoots into a controlled shaped it is also easier to maintenance and harvest. After a few seasons when the braid gets heavier it can slump, especially in snow country. The braid can be to pulled from the ends, allowing you to reshape the entire braid when needed. For example: after the fruit sets, in Spring when cane shoots get lanky, or in early Spring if the braid has been smushed by a snow load.
I wrote a blog post that describes Braided Canes in detail here =>
https://nomadgardens.com/wp/braided-canes/
*You will save yourself a lot of labor and plenty scratches if you use the right tools like a
Japanese sickle(or something similar) and a
rock rake to grab canes or vines. Japanese sickles are built to make precise cuts with ease, the serrated sickle curve does all the work. Hold onto a bunch of a canes/vines in one hand then pull then over the blade and hold pressure up against them with the blade hand. It makes easy work and you can sculpt and shape most woody plants and hedges etc. good tool to have on hand.
.png)
3
