Raspberry, and Blackberry Question

[boyd]

1st time berry farmer to be here........

This is the time of year I go through the tree line with a weed whip and push mower to fight back the growth of scrub. Since I've had my eyes on growing more berries this year, I've already looked into getting raspberries and blackberries in a raised bed that I can keep the birds out of. My question is this... Would it be possible for me to dig up and transplant whole plant systems (12" clusters) and move them?

I figure that if my best efferts of digging, mowing, burning and whipping haven't killed them, they are a pretty hardy plant. The stalks are starting to color up from the spring growth and yesterday I couldn't quite make myself do it.

Any thoughts?

Oh yeah, What's the best method of keeping the Birds out of my berry patch??

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to this side, Boyd. Glad you made the journey.

To me, the blackberries seem a little hardier than raspberries, but both are plenty hardy. If you dig up clumps of roots, put them in your raised bed, and water them until they get going, you should do well with them. Supposedly you should wait until after last frost. I guess this way you can tell which are blackberries and which are raspberries.

I ordered mine a couple of years ago. They arrived in the spring about the time of last frost. I set them out, kept them watered and they did well. I have read you are not supposed to plant black raspberries near blackberries. Some disease they can share, I believe. The red raspberries are supposedly Ok to plant near the blackberries.

I really have not had a problem with birds. Last year I put netting over the blackberries to make sure I would not (thinking birds and deer) and wound up moving the netting over my tomatoes which were having problems. Supposedly you can hang aluminum pie plates or CD's so they can move in the wind and it will stop the birds but I have not had to try that. I personally don't put any faith in setting up the fake owls or anything like that since I think they get used to anything stationary, just like the deer.

You may enjoy this. The first year a few started to get ripe, I noticed my blackberries were disappearing the night before I planned to pick them. I'd look at a couple, think I can get those tomorrow, and tomorrow they would be gone. Not knowing what it was, (deer, raccoon, and ground hog were the suspects) I set up a live trap with peanut butter as bait and trapped a raccoon. After that I got all the blackberries.

I'm sure you know this already, but I'll say it anyway. Blackberries bear on last year's canes. You will not get any the year you transplant them. Raspberries are a bit more complicated. Some can bear on this year's canes and some on last year's canes. Depends on the type.

 

[patandchickens]

I have only ever moved them in the fall, myself, but it is quite likely that most or all would survive an early spring move (before leafing out and starting into growth). If you're just going to kill 'em otherwise, and don't mind the work, you really have nothing to lose by trying anyhow

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[lesa]

I once bought some topsoil, that had berry bushes chopped up in little pieces mixed with it. I'm sure you know the rest of the story! Dig those babies up and don't be gentle! It is not the birds that get my berries, but the deer... Enjoy!

 

[old fashioned]

Since they sell starts of both in the spring (around here anyway)I'd think it wouldn't be a problem.

As for telling the two apart....look at the stalks or branches, raspberries have many fine (almost hairylike) thorns and the blackberries have occaisional large thorns...atleast in my yard. but then again I'm not sure if different varieties might not have different thorn characteristics.

 

[boyd]

Thanks for the info!!!! I figured they would probably be ok since my efforts to eradicate a wild patch hasn't worked.. So if I had to dig them up anyways

Didn't realize the deer liked them also! I can see coons n such wanting a sweet nibble and see huge flocks of birds in the patch....

By moving them to a raised bed I can actually move around and pick them and not just the front plants!!!

 

[lupinfarm]

Pat suggested this to me when I was thinking of planting in a raised bed (still am! Just waiting for the funds to buy some canes), that you might consider digging down below the bottom of the bed into the native soil, planting your blackberry or raspberry, then putting in a good thick layer of mulch on top of the soil.

I have a 5ft x 20ft bed I am planting out with two 20ft rows of raspberries, down the middle will be a little pathway made out of rubber stepping stones I bought years ago from Home Depot. That way we can pick the ones on the inside.