The garden blackberry is sometimes called the queen of the garden for delicious black berries with very useful properties. In addition, it is often used as a decorative fence. However, in order to grow this representative of the flora, you should familiarize yourself with the characteristics of care.
Blackberry garden - varieties
Sorts of blackberry a lot. So, for example, Kumanik looks like raspberry shoots. Rosyaniku, or creeping blackberries, appreciate the large size of berries. True, it has powerful spikes. Lohannberry variety is a non-quandary. A lot of winter-resistant varieties are grown - Agavam, Eldorado, Ufa local. Recently, blackberry variety cultivars without thorns are gaining popularity, for example, Lochness, Thornless, Thornfrey.
Blackberry garden - planting and care
For planting blackberry seedlings choose a solar patch, which should be thoroughly dig deep. Planting should be done in spring or autumn. For each bush, a pit is dug up to 50 cm deep, where a bucket of humus or mineral fertilizers is lowered (50 g of potassium sulfate, 100 g of superphosphate). The distance between the pits should be about 1 m, between the rows - up to 2-3 m. The pit is watered, and then the seedling is lowered and sprinkled with earth so that the root neck is deepened into the soil by 2 cm. The planted bush is again watered and mulched with sawdust or dry ground.
In the future, care for the blackberry garden involves timely watering, loosening the soil and removing weeds. An important factor in growing blackberries is fertilizing with fertilizers, which, naturally, affects the production of a good harvest. The first few years of growth in spring are nitrogen fertilizers, for example, 20 grams of ammonium nitrate per bush. After that, in the autumn, after blackening the blackberry is fed 25 g of potassium sulfate and 100 g of superphosphate.
In regions with severe winters, the roots of the blackberry should be covered with foliage, dry branches or peat.
Care for blackberry garden - pruning and shaping the crown
Growing blackberries, you can not forget about pruning lashes. It is carried out early in the spring to remove sick and dry branches, as well as pinching the tops 10-15 cm to stimulate growth. The crown is formed for 3-4 years of growth of the blackberry. For cultivated varieties (Kumanyki), a cluster method is used, in which the shoots are tied in a support. For creeping varieties, tapestries are set up on which young growing shoots are directed in one direction (in the center or upward), and the fruit-bearing shoots are sent to the bottom or to the sides in a fan-shaped, wave-like or rope way.