A ramble about the bramble

21.08.2023 - 12:02 / theunconventionalgardener.com / guest

Today’s guest post is from Vanessa – she blogs at Esculent et cetera.

New fruit growers often seem to get told “don’t plant blackberries” – they take up too much space, they’ll get in the way, they’re scruffy, and above all you can pick them everywhere in the wild.

But what if you happen to rather like blackberries? They’re a very useful fruit in the kitchen, make good wine, liqueur and cordial, the flowers and fruit are beautiful and popular for all sorts of garden residents from bumblebees to butterflies and birds, and their spiney canes are pretty good for security too.

Add to this that no, actually not everyone can pick them everywhere in the wild. You may not have time, wild ones are highly variable, in some areas the local canine/vulpine/automobile population can make it unpalatable or even dangerous.

Even if you do find a patch of deliciousness, these days foraging is terribly now, darling, and someone may well beat you to the best and most convenient ones (or you may simply feel a bit outshone, lugging your recycled Sainsbury carrier when everyone else seems to have a tasteful Cath Kidston floral tote and just the right type of floaty dress).

In our garden we’ve managed to fit a generous stretch of pretty high-yielding, plump-fruited, and fairly convenient plants that produce all the berries a couple, their friends and family, and a hungry Labrador could need (I suspect hungry Labrador is a tautology). The overgrown suburban garden was the main attraction of buying the house we live in now (it certainly wasn’t the nine coal scuttles, killer gas fires and unbelievably brown 1960s nylon carpets). And with this garden came an apple tree to renovate, wild-sown or feral raspberries and a number of brambles. What to do