In the early spring, you should tip prune. In late summer, you should cleanup prune. When you tip prune in the spring before flower buds form, you cut off the tips of the blackberry canes to force the canes to branch out. Use sharp, clean pruning shears to cut the canes to about 24 inches.
When should I cut back blackberry bushes?
HOW TO ... PRUNE BLACKBERRIES
- Prune after fruiting finishes.
- They bear fruit on two-year-old canes, so remove any canes that have already borne fruit.
- If you aren't sure which ones are old canes, try bending them. ...
- Dig out suckers and either replant elsewhere or give away.
- Top-dress with compost and/or cow manure.
- Mulch.
How do you prune blackberries for winter?
When you are pruning blackberries in winter, cut back long, trailing branches on your erect canes to 12 to 18 inches (30-46 cm.). Follow the same pruning procedure if you have trailing canes. These are the brambles that lie on the ground unless you tie them to a stake.
