In the middle lane, landscape design uses blackberries everywhere. Preparing for the winter of this crop is very important and is of paramount importance for its successful cultivation.
Aesthetic and economic value
Beautiful decorative bushes well fix sandy slopes, are part of decorative walls and hedges. Thus, blackberries (preparing for the winter of this culture will be discussed in this article) will decorate your garden at any time of the year. In addition to the value that it has for landscape design, this culture can be very useful for the diversity of your diet. The blackberry, the preparation for the winter of which was successful, will give a good harvest. From berries you can cook jam, compote and jelly, which will have a rich dark purple color. In addition to shelter in the cold months, this shrub is very important to prune properly. This is where we start.
How to trim a blackberry for the winter
As in the case of garden currants, pruning is best done in two steps: the first time in the spring, and the second in the fall. The fruits of garden blackberries appear on branches that are at least two years old. Therefore, there should be shoots of both the past and the current year on the bush. Both those and others need to be cut off. In the spring, when the buds just begin to bloom, you need to remove the shoots affected by frost. Even in those shrubs that have wintered well, the upper part often freezes or dries. In parallel with the development of lateral shoots, root shoots appear on last year's branches. Of these, it is worth leaving up to the five strongest. Removing the rest. You also need to get rid of young shoots throughout the growing season. This will help your plant. The smaller the sprouts around, the better your blackberry will feel. Preparing for winter also includes pruning. Now you need to remove the shoots that have borne fruit this year.
You can do this in the second half of September. At this time, fruiting in all climatic zones is already exactly coming to an end. It is better to cut the shoot under the root - in this case pests will not nest in the remaining hemp. You also need to track and remove excess branches that have grown since the beginning of spring. And those that you want to leave for fruiting for the next year, it is better to cut a little for a more powerful development of the lateral processes. Creeping blackberry varieties allow to grow to the maximum length. Of course, it also depends on the intricacies of decorating your site, but usually it is at least two meters.
How to cover a blackberry for the winter
Creeping varieties cover in case frosts are expected to minus 17 degrees Celsius. Frost-resistant - only if the temperature drops below minus 20 degrees. Corn leaves are used as covering material - they are covered with shoots after they lie in a trench. Dense polyethylene is placed on top. The problem is sheltering upright shoots. So that they do not break, they should be preliminarily, from the end of August, gradually bent to the ground with the help of a load fixed on the top.