When to harvest Blackberry in the UK
Blackberry is planted rather than sown from seed, so the dates below are harvest dates.
Harvest dates by region
Blackberry shows the same dates across the whole UK, so every region below reads the same. Where a plant’s timings do follow the frost, Plot shifts them from the Midlands and Lowland Wales baseline using Met Office average frost dates.
| Where you are | Harvest |
|---|---|
| South West Coast and Cornwall | mid July to late September |
| South Coast and Channel | mid July to late September |
| Greater London (Urban Heat Island) | mid July to late September |
| South East and Home Counties | mid July to late September |
| East Anglia | mid July to late September |
| Midlands and Lowland Wales | mid July to late September |
| Wales and West Coast | mid July to late September |
| Northern England | mid July to late September |
| Scotland Lowlands and Central Belt | mid July to late September |
| Scotland Highlands and Islands | mid July to late September |
| Northern Ireland | mid July to late September |
| Channel Islands and Isle of Man | mid July to late September |
Growing notes
Vigorous varieties need 3-4m of wall or wires; for a small garden choose a compact thornless variety such as 'Loch Ness' or 'Little Black Prince'. Will fruit in light shade, though the crop is smaller and less sweet.
At a glance
- Spacing
- 300 cm between plants
- Row spacing
- 200 cm
- Plants per m²
- 0.2
- Yield per plant
- 4 kg
- Eventual height
- 200 cm
- Eventual spread
- 300 cm
- Sun
- Full
- Frost tender
- No
- Grows in a container
- Yes, 45 litres or more
- Minimum soil depth
- 40 cm
- Balcony rating
- 2 out of 5
Pruning: what to avoid
Prune every year after harvesting, cutting the old fruited stems out at the base and keeping the current season's new canes, which fruit next year. Cutting out the wrong canes, or cutting everything back, loses the whole of next season's crop.
Pruning group
blackberry and hybrid berry
Bare-root season
Bare-root stock is lifted and sold while dormant, from early November to late March. Container-grown plants can go in at other times of year, but bare-root is cheaper and establishes well.
How long until it crops
Expect the first worthwhile pick about 2 years after planting, and a productive life of roughly 12 years.
What usually goes wrong
- grey mould
- raspberry viruses
- blackberry aphids
- birds
Related guides
Timings cross-checked against RHS guidance for blackberry.