PSA - Time to trim your blackberries

We have loads of wild blackberry patches near us. For the past few years I have been going out in spring and trimming back the canes to encourage both better fruit setting, and to make it easier to pick.

Wild blackberries send up huge, long thick stems. The following year the side branches on these bear the fruit. If the long stems are trimmed back to about 3ft high, the fruiting side branches will be easily accessible and the fruit set heavier. It also makes it easier to do later winter pruning. 15 minutes with secateurs now, on a wild blackberry patch, can make a big difference later.

I do this long boundary fence lines in particular, where they grow against walls, and along field boundaries.