How to Stake Blackberries

Planting blackberries is an investment in rich, ripe berries--enough for pies, shortcakes, jams, ice cream toppings and eating fresh right off the vines. Blackberry roots live for 15 to 20 years, which means a berry patch is permanent and needs to be established in the right place. Canes are biennial, with new canes produced every year from the base of old canes. Various trellis or support systems can be used with blackberries, but staking is simpler. Also known as the hill system, staking blackberries requires first planting bare root berries about four feet apart in a row.

8-foot tall metal T-posts, 1 for each plant
Post driver
Heavy-duty fence wire
Fence tool
Plastic plant ties or garden twine
Loppers
Bypass-style hand pruners

Instructions

- 1
  Drive in a metal T-post about 6 inches from each plant so that posts also stand 4 feet apart in the row.
- 2
  Run one strand of wire tightly between all posts in the row--attaching to each post--at a height of about 4 1/2 feet above the ground.
- 3
  Spread fruiting branches out along the wire. Twine these branches around the wire and attach them loosely with plastic plant ties.
- 4
  Tie later new canes, as they emerge, to the post, establishing the center of the berry hill. Continue to prune and train canes to the wire support and post as plants get established.
- 5
  Cut back and remove all floricanes--fruit-producing or second-year canes--after harvest, when they die back.
- 6
  Thin the remaining canes early in the following spring, leaving just 5 to 7 of the sturdiest canes per hill. Cut side branches of the canes back to 12 buds and then tie canes to the post or wire.
- 7
  Pinch off the growing tips of new canes when they reach the wire, to encourage side branches, or laterals, that will bear fruit the following year.

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