Rubus fruticosus
The most productive soft fruit available for the space it occupies. A single established blackberry plant produces 5–10kg of fruit per year for decades from virtually any soil, including heavy clay and deep shade that would defeat all other fruits. Modern thornless varieties have transformed blackberry growing — they are now genuinely pleasant to manage and harvest.
The number of varieties shown for each crop is based on UK consumption data (2025/26) — the more popular the crop, the more variety choices we include.
The most widely recommended thornless blackberry for UK gardens. Compact, upright habit — much less spreading than most blackberries. Very large, glossy black berries with excellent sweet flavour. Heavy, reliable crops. Ideal for smaller gardens where space is limited. AGM.
One of the earliest thornless blackberries — begins fruiting in July. Large berries with good sweet flavour. More compact than Loch Ness. An excellent choice for extending the blackberry season into late summer when other soft fruits are finishing.
Extremely compact, semi-trailing thornless variety — ideal for smaller gardens where full-sized blackberries would be unmanageable. Very high yield for its size. Good flavour. The most compact productive thornless blackberry widely available.
The highest-yielding blackberry commercially available — produces extraordinary quantities of very large, glossy berries. Vigorous growth requires a robust support system and plenty of space. Thorned but the yield justifies the effort. Outstanding for jam, freezing, and fresh eating.
A very early-cropping variety with very large berries beginning in July. Old variety that has remained popular for its earliness — it extends the soft fruit season from midsummer. Milder flavour than later varieties. Vigorous, thorned.
Late-season thornless variety with attractive ornamental foliage that colours well in autumn. Extends the blackberry season into October. Useful for decorative as well as productive use. The beautiful dissected leaves make it worth growing on a trellis or arch where the foliage is visible.
A Scottish-bred hybrid between blackberry and raspberry producing very large, deep red-purple fruit with an extraordinarily rich, aromatic flavour. Outstanding for jam and eating fresh. Vigorous canes require robust support. One of the finest-flavoured hybrid berries. AGM.
An old hybrid producing large, dark red fruits with an intense, sharp, wine-like flavour that is entirely distinct from either parent. Outstanding for jam, coulis, and baking. The thorned form is very vigorous. A thornless loganberry (LY 654) is also available and recommended for garden use.
A large-fruited hybrid with very large, dark berries combining the flavours of blackberry, loganberry, and raspberry. Outstanding flavour — sweeter and less sharp than loganberry. Less vigorous than pure blackberry. Less commonly grown in the UK than in the US or Australasia but well worth seeking out.
Blackberry canes become powerful and heavy once laden with fruit, so strong support installed before planting is essential — posts at no more than 2m intervals carrying horizontal wires. Plant bare-root canes with roots spread out in a wide hole and cut back hard to 25cm immediately after planting to establish strong new growth. The one-way training system is the single most effective management technique: train all new season's growth to one side of the support and the fruiting canes to the other, which keeps picking straightforward and makes pruning out spent wood simple each autumn. Check regularly for tip-layering, where cane tips root wherever they touch the ground — left unchecked this can turn one plant into a thicket within a season.
Blackberry canes are powerful and heavy when laden with fruit. Install posts at no more than 2m intervals with 3–4 horizontal wires at 60cm, 90cm, 120cm, and 150cm. Use 10–12 gauge galvanised wire strained tightly — inadequate supports collapse within a season.
Plant bare-root canes with roots spread horizontally in a wide planting hole. Cut the cane to 25cm after planting — this promotes vigorous new cane production from the base and prevents the top from drawing moisture from roots that have not yet re-established.
The most effective management technique for blackberries is the one-way system: train new canes to one side of the wire framework during the growing season, while the current year's fruiting canes occupy the other side. After harvest, remove all the old fruited canes and re-train the new canes into the space vacated.
Apply a 10cm mulch of compost, woodchip, or straw along the full length of the planting. Keep clear of cane bases. Blackberries tolerate dry conditions once established but produce significantly better fruit with consistent moisture.
Blackberry cane tips will root where they touch the ground (tip-layering). Inspect the planting regularly and lift or pin back any tips that have contacted the soil, unless you specifically want new plants to propagate.
Attracts pollinators and adds a decorative, low-maintenance border nearby.
Attracts pollinators and beneficial insects, and is said to improve nearby fruit set.
Onion-family plants grown nearby are thought to help deter pests with their strong scent.
Deep roots mine nutrients from the subsoil; cut leaves make an excellent potassium-rich mulch.
Bare-root blackberry canes must be planted while dormant between November and March. They establish very reliably — blackberries are among the hardiest and most robust fruiting plants available.
Spread the roots horizontally in a wide, shallow planting hole. Firm well and water in. Cut the planted cane to 25cm immediately.
Do not plant without supports in place. Blackberry canes grow rapidly once established — a plant going into the ground in February will need to be tied to wires by June.
| Region | Sow / plant | Harvest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland & Far North | Nov–Mar | Aug–Oct | |
| Northern England | Nov–Mar | Aug–Oct | |
| Midlands & Wales | Nov–Mar | Aug–Oct | |
| Ireland & Isle of Man | Nov–Mar | Aug–Oct | |
| South & SE England | Nov–Mar | Aug–Oct | |
| South Coast & SW | Nov–Mar | Aug–Oct |
Blackberries propagate themselves naturally by tip-layering — when cane tips touch the ground, they root and produce new plants. This can be done deliberately to produce free new plants from your own stock.
Not Required — No propagator needed. Blackberries propagate readily from tip layers in open ground in late summer.
In July–August, choose a healthy, vigorous new cane that has not yet fruited. The tip must be long enough to reach the ground at a convenient propagating position.
Dig a hole 15cm deep. Bend the cane tip into a U-shape and pin it into the hole with a wire staple. The growing point should face upwards. Cover with firm soil.
The buried tip will root and produce a new shoot through autumn and winter. In March–April, cut the cane on the parent-plant side of the new shoot. Leave for 2 further weeks, then dig up and move to the permanent position.
Plant the new rooted plant as per a bare-root cane — wide hole, firm in, cut back to 25cm, mulch, and water. Supports must be in place before or at planting.
The one-way system is the clearest and most effective method for managing blackberries. During the summer, train all new canes — which will fruit next year — exclusively to one side of the wire framework (or along the top wire for a neater appearance). The current fruiting canes occupy the other side. After harvest, remove all the fruited canes entirely at the base and move the bundle of new canes into the space vacated, tying them in horizontally along the wires. This physical separation of new growth from fruiting growth makes annual pruning completely straightforward and dramatically reduces the risk of disease spreading from old to new wood.
Blackberries fruit on the previous year's canes — a cane grows in year one and fruits in year two, then dies. Annual pruning involves removing all the canes that have just fruited — cut to ground level as close to the base as possible. Do this in October or November after the last fruit is picked. The new canes that grew through the summer are retained, tied in to the wires along their length, and these will carry next year's crop. Never allow more than 6–8 canes per plant — selecting the strongest and removing the weaker ones improves fruit quality significantly.
Established blackberries tolerate considerable drought but produce significantly larger, more plentiful fruit with consistent moisture through the fruiting season (August–October). Water at the base of the plant — avoid wetting the canes and foliage. Apply a balanced fertiliser in early spring and a generous mulch of compost annually. High-nitrogen feeding in summer encourages excessive cane growth at the expense of fruit — avoid it.
Pick blackberries when fully black, ripe, and coming away cleanly from the plug without resistance. Under-ripe berries are very sour and hard — do not pick early. Over-ripe berries fall at a touch and are soft and dull-looking. Check the planting every 2–3 days during the picking season — berries ripen over an extended period from August into October. Pick in the early morning for best flavour. In a good year, a single established plant will produce more fruit than a family can eat fresh.
Cane spot causes purple spots on canes and should be managed by removing affected canes and improving airflow. Cane blight causes sudden wilting and darkening of canes — cut to the base and burn. Raspberry beetle attacks blackberries as well as raspberries — grubs inside fruit in August/September. Botrytis (grey mould) in wet summers — pick regularly and do not leave fruit on the plant. Tip-layering can spread the planting uncontrollably — check regularly for rooted tips.
Full identification and treatment advice is in the Pests and Diseases sections.
Fresh blackberries keep for 2–3 days refrigerated. Pick ripe, handle gently, do not wash until ready to eat. Homegrown blackberries picked at full ripeness bear no resemblance to commercial berries — the depth of flavour is entirely different. Eat fresh with cream, in fruit salads, or with yoghurt.
Blackberry and apple jam is a classic British preserve, and blackberry jelly, cordial and wine are excellent uses for large gluts. The season overlaps with early apples — pair them for the best autumn preserves. Follow a tested recipe.
Blackberries freeze exceptionally well. Open freeze on a tray until solid, then bag. Use within 12 months. Frozen blackberries are excellent in crumbles, pies, smoothies, and coulis. A surplus September crop frozen at peak ripeness provides outstanding fruit through winter for baking and desserts.
Modern thornless varieties such as Loch Ness, Adrienne, and Waldo produce fruit that equals or exceeds thorned types in quality and yield, with the enormous practical advantage of making tying, pruning, and picking genuinely pleasant rather than a painful ordeal. There is no compelling reason to grow a thorned blackberry in a domestic garden.
Blackberries are one of very few productive fruiting plants that succeed in deep shade — including north-facing walls, under large trees, and in shaded corners that have no other use. A thornless variety trained against a north-facing fence produces a generous autumn harvest from space that would otherwise be completely unproductive.
Blackberries fruit in August, September, and October — the least busy period in the soft fruit calendar, after strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, and currants are finished. This temporal gap makes them more valuable than their simplicity might suggest. A garden with both summer and autumn raspberries and blackberries has continuous soft fruit from June until the first frosts.