Here in Western Sydney, the summers are hot (and are getting hotter) and can be very dry. This may be why most of my experiments with berry fruit have come to naught. Gooseberries, black currants, red currants, blueberries and raspberries, even the ever faithful and productive strawberry………I’ve killed them all! At least now I have one success to report, there are blackberries on my blackberry plant.
A while ago a friend gave me a thornless blackberry bush in a pot, knowing my previous experience with berries I was a little dubious but decided that I would plant it in the front garden which is destined to become the LUFFA. It went in between two tea trees and got planted in a slightly raised area that has a wood chip mulch. It has now been in the ground for about two years after spending a year in the pot and we have gotten some very tasty blackberries.
It seemed to like the area and grew well if a little slowly. Initially I was content to let it run along the ground but just recently I built it a trellis for a couple of reasons –
- Keep the canes off the ground. It has a tendency to root where the canes droop down and touch the ground, great for propagation, not so great if you want to keep the bush in the one area.
- Keep the fruit off the ground – this keeps the fruit out of the way of snails and other greeblies (technical term) and makes it easier to see and harvest. Before you ask, no, birds have not been a problem but we do have two cats.
To make the trellis I got hold of some 25mm mesh galvanised wire which I had hanging around in the back shed and wrapped one end around one of the tea trees. I then secured the free end to the rest of the mesh with cable ties. The cable ties are very strong and can be applied quickly in a number of places to ensure the mesh is tied around the tree securely. The ties are also easy to remove once the trellis is secured with more galvanised wire. The ties will eventually go brittle and break due to UV from the sun but are a good option for securing the trellis in the short term before the wire is put on. I then stretched the remaining mesh out and wrapped it around the tea tree on the other side of the blackberry bush (both trees have approximately 30cm diameter trunks) and secured it with more cable ties.
With the trellis in place it was an easy thing to attach the blackberry to the wire mesh with some plastic coated wire. The blackberry will eventually grow onto the trellis and the coated wire can then be removed.
The blackberry is now growing well and the area looks much tidier and more appealing, which is important seeing it is growing at the front of our property, and nobody has pinched any of the fruit, yet.
