Rubus fruticosus
Blackberry, Bramble
- Height × spread
- 2m × 5m
- Position
- Tolerates full sun, likes part shade, likes light shade
- Hardiness
- Very cold to -20C (RHS H6)
- Flowers
- Spring, Summer
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
The common bramble, horrible in the garden, wonderful in the countryside when covered in blackberries! This makes a large spreading, scrambling shrub with long arching very spiny branches. It usually has leaves in threes, (trifoliate), prickly on their underside, coloured matt green with toothy edges and impressed veins. In spring it is covered in little white rounded flowers - reminiscent of some wild roses, and identifying this shrub as being part of that family. The flowers provide a good food source for bees. These are followed by clusters of the well known black knobby fruits, loved by people and birds. There are many cultivars, some of them lacking thorns, and these are much more garden-worthy. This will reach around 2m (7ft) in height with a 5m (16ft) spread.
- Flower colour
- White
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Stem colour
- Silver
- Fruit colour
- Black
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Dome
- Height
- 2m
- Spread
- 5m
- Season of interest
- Spring, Summer, Winter
- Flowers in
- Spring, Summer
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Garden style
- Winter garden, Small scale garden, Cottage garden
- Sun or shade
- Tolerates full sun, likes part shade, likes light shade
- Soil type
- Chalk, Clay, Loam (normal), Sandy soil
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Moisture retentive soil, Damp and wet soil, Well drained soil
- Hardiness
- Very cold to -20C (RHS H6)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Wall cover, Structural, Rabbit resistant, Bee attraction, Butterfly attraction, Bird attraction
- Walls
- South, West facing
- Hazards
- Yes, stems are prickly/thorny
Spring
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water to keep the soil moist
For best results, this plant needs soil that is always moist. Water deeply and regularly as soon as soil appears dry. Even for established plants in the ground, a dry week can cause problems with some soils. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather. Or install an automatic irrigation system which will do the hard work for you, even when you are away on holiday.
Without regular watering some plants never fully regain their beauty.
Spring-Summer - early-mid · Planting
Prune after flowering
When the plant has flowered, cut all the flowered shoots back to healthy buds that are lower on the stems. When the plant is established, take out a quarter of the oldest branches to the ground at this time.
Planting & general
Outdoor planting · Planting
Add root growth stimulant to the planting hole
Mycorrhizal fungi helps roots establish quickly, so they absorb water and nutrients more efficiently. It comes as a powder, granule or gel. Add to the planting hole or container, and to the plant's rootball before planting in the hole. For "bareroot" plants use a gel.
Found in
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