Rubus ursinus/Dew berry/trailing mountain blackberry

I have been picking these little gems for years now and I always give them to my mother to make me blackberry pies for the holidays. It's time to start a patch at their house. They have ten acers so room will not be a problem. I need advice on the proper way to go about doing this project successfully. Start to finish I am not experienced in gardening but look forward to the challenge on getting some good yields of berry's. What type of soil should I use? Should I get wild plants or should I buy them and where do I buy them? When do I plant them?In the ground or in a pot? All these kinds of questions I have for sure. Thanks for taking the time to help me!

Here are a couple of informative articles about varieties and growing tips for your region:

http://kitsap.wsu.edu/hort/pdf_MGfiles/BlackberriesInWesternWashington.pdf
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pdf/ec/ec1303.pdf

With 10 acres, you should be able to pick a good area AWAY from your established garden beds, since these plants will spread and can get invasive. Your plants will need a couple of years to get established and start producing - you will probably not be happy with the results if you "rustle" wild plants as you will do alot of damage to the root systems and - if they survive - they will probably be delayed in producing fruit.

I would start calling the nurseries in your area and finding out who is carrying the best varieties of berries for your area - that wild trailing berry you mentioned is one of the recommendations for your area. You can experiment by adding more than one variety to your berry patch.

I would till your soil deeply, get all of the weeds out, then till again adding some good composted manure to the soil. Plan on a bed that is long and narrow, or one that would allow you the space to move safely between your plants when they are mature. You will want to be able to easily get to the berries and to safely prune out old, unproductive canes, and also to tip-prune new shoots to maximize yield. With all the thorns, that's going to take some pre-planning. You might want to build an inexpensive trellis or fenceline to help you train and maintain the plants before planting. This isn't absolutely necessary, but you might want to give it some thought ahead of time. You sure can't easily add one later on...

Blackberries grow so well in your area - I wouldn't be overly concerned about your soil - if the wild ones are growing in the area now, they'll probably be quite happy on your acreage. Just make sure that you place the bed where you can access the berry patch to provide some supplemental water for the first year. If you hit a dry spell in your area, you'll want to be able to keep the new plants watered during their first year in the ground until the roots are well established.

Plant as early as you can after the last frost in spring, and add a thick layer of mulch to the entire bed to hold in moisture and keep down weeds.

You won't see fruit the first year - berries are produced on two-year old canes - but be patient and you'll start to see your first berries the second year. Yield will increase each year thereafter as the plants mature.

Blackberries are very easy to grow and should be very rewarding for you. I love having them in my garden and it's alot tougher to grow good ones in Texas! Just read a few articles and follow the steps for tip-pruning new canes and annual pruning out of old unproductive canes and you'll do great.

Mocatmom, thank you for the info this will help me on my way to the ultimate berry patch. Your time and wisdom is much appreciated ,thanks!

I LOVE this berry - and can't imagine how it would be to convince it to grow where I want it to .........thank goodness, I also have lots of rural property, so it can do what it wants. I DO recall my own mother's lack of understanding about the biology of these guys. In the R. ursinus - there are separate male/female plants. SO - after the pollen has been produced in the staminate flowers, the flowers themselves just shrivel up and die. My dear mother always referred to those as being "blighted". I suspect she would have weeded them out if she had been cultivating berries on her own property. This is just a heads up on berry sex!

Best wishes with your project. I used to live in Monroe several lifetimes ago!!!!

wannadanc, thanks for the info and yes monroe is not the monroe we used to know so many years ago. I will let you know if I am sucessfull with the berry patch.