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Garden Gate:  Does anyone prune their wild brambles?  |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 12 2008 : 10:28:06 AM
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In the last few weeks, I've been reading some organic gardening books that were published in England, and they talk a lot about pruning and cutting back wild brambles for a better crop.
What am I cutting back? Better question, what am I NOT cutting back? When am I doing it? I'd like to have a bigger crop than last year, and that was a lot, well, for us. 8 pints of jam and countless bags of frozen berries for us, friends and family.
I know some folks hate them, but not us...any help would be appreciated.
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Apr 12 2008 : 10:51:34 AM
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Jonni- Brambles are another name for Blackberries from what I remember. Wild blackberries can grow over a foot a day, but when all the energy is going to spreading, little goes to the berries. So if you clip back the growth- not only will they not take over the whole garden, they will put more energy to the berries.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Apr 12 2008 : 11:07:57 AM
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That's true, Alee, Brambles = wild blackberries. They are tall, but there aren't as many "canes" as there were last year--it was like a hedge. Jus cut into them so we could actually pick from both inside and out. I was just out with the dogs looking and it just doesn't look like "much"...maybe if I cut back the dead canes from last year, they will develop better.
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Apr 12 2008 : 11:27:43 AM
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I would probably wait until they are going well and have the flowers. It would be a shame to trim away the growing branches that are mature enough to produce berries!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
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lisamarie508
True Blue Farmgirl
2648 Posts
Lisa
Idaho City
ID
USA
2648 Posts |
Posted - Apr 12 2008 : 3:32:28 PM
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Jonni, if there is any doubt as to whether or not a cane is dead, cut a little from the end and if it's green inside, of course, it's not dead. If there's no green, cut down lower to where you think it might still be alive, which might be all the way down to the crown. If it is green, cutting a small piece from the end won't harm it any.
Farmgirl Sister #35
"If you can not do great things, do small things in a great way." Napoleon Hill (1883-1970)
my blog: http://lisamariesbasketry.blogspot.com/
My Website:
http://www.freewebs.com/lisamariesbasketry/index.htm |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2008 : 08:10:45 AM
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Thanks, Lisa Marie...I was going to head out today to do that (and probably still will) but we're going to need slickers and rain boots...an icy rain is falling today. Blech.
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2008 : 2:19:11 PM
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Alright, I went out in the rain and cut down all the dead canes...now here's the question...last year we must have had a bumper crop because cutting out all the dead canes left me with not very many growing ones. Do you think they were "squeezed out" or something, and next year we'll have a better crop? I also cut out all that crazy wild rose bush that runs with the brambles and I'm going to tie them up, so they're not touching the ground, or crowding the path that we walk down to the creekbed.
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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Garden Gate: Does anyone prune their wild brambles? |
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Does anyone prune their wild brambles?
