PlantSowGrow
How to plant and care for Blackberry (Loch Ness)
Rubus fruticosus
A thornless, upright blackberry with big, glossy berries in late summer — much easier to manage than wild brambles.
At a glance: harvest in August.
When to plant and care for it
Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.
Growing Blackberry (Loch Ness): what it needs
- Light
- Full sun · 6+ hours a day
- Watering
- Water well while fruit swells
- Soil
- Fertile, well-drained soil
- Spacing
- 2 m
- Height
- 2 m
- In pots
- Only in large containers
- Feeding
- Sulphate of potash in late winter; mulch with compost
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 4–8
Step by step
- On planting day
Plant
Plant 2 m apart in weed-free, well-prepared soil enriched with compost, and water in well.
- 0–3 days after “Plant”
Put Up Support Wires
Stretch wires at 60 cm intervals between two posts to tie canes to.
- 7–21 days after “Put Up Support Wires”
Mulch
Spread 5 cm of compost or bark around the plants to keep moisture in and weeds down.
Every year
- MarchMulch and Feed
Feed with a general fertiliser and mulch with compost.
- JuneTie In New Canes
Tie this year's new canes to the wires, keeping them separate from the fruiting ones.
- AugustPick Blackberries
Pick when fully black and they come away easily.
Starts from year 2.
- OctoberCut Out Fruited Canes
Cut canes that fruited this year to the ground; tie in the new ones for next year.
Starts from year 2.
.jpg){kind=link}