Cut canes that have borne blackberries
Dear Helen: I have thornless blackberry canes that produce a bounty of large, tasty berries. Do I prune them like summer raspberries, removing canes that have given the current year’s berries? Do I prune any of the new growth? When is the best time? How many of the new canes should be kept?
G.C. Blackberries are biennial. Canes produced this year will carry next year’s berries.
I am strongly in favour of removing the canes that have borne berries (that is, last year’s canes) as soon as all the berries have been picked. This gives the new canes the best chance to develop and mature, setting them up for good health and a fine harvest the following year.
To further enhance health and productivity in the new canes, thin each clump to retain just a few of the most robust.
When removing canes, make the cuts at or, where possible, just beneath ground level. Avoid leaving stubs. After pruning, it will benefit the planting to water deeply and then apply a nourishing mulch layer.
Dear Helen: This summer, for the first time, our Bartlett pears had brown discolourations and small, hard, gritty clusters in the fruit. The tree is healthy, and a nearby pear of a different variety has borne its usual lovely fruit. Would the intense heat in August have cause the problem?
E.A. A tendency to produce gritty flesh can be more pronounced in some varieties, but outside factors contribute as well to disappointing fruit quality.
Though a viral infection could be involved, the gritty clusters in your Bartlett pears are more likely caused by issues around weather, growing condition, or the timing of harvesting.
Unusually cool or very hot weather can result in hard or mealy fruit. Stress to the tree, such as the intense August heat and/or dry conditions, can be factors in the formation of the small bundles of “stone cells” you have encountered.
Hard, gritty stone cells and flesh starting to rot from the
inside are signs of pears left too long on the tree. Bartletts are best picked at the first sign of the pears’ colour beginning to lighten, and as the fruit detaches easily from the tree when lifted gently. Dear Helen: I’ve been unable to identify a tall shrub (maybe a vine?) with cane-like stems and long, drooping, reddish-purple and white blossom clusters arranged in tiers. The blooms are followed by small, dark, round berries. I’d also like to know whether the plant is easy to grow or fussy and demanding.
L.A. You have described Himalayan honeysuckle (pheasant berry, Leycesteria formosa), a fastgrowing shrub with strong stems that can reach a height of 180 cm in one season.
Leycesteria is a tough plant, very easy to grow, and adaptable, though it does require a welldrained soil and a sunny site is preferred. I’ve grown these plants from seed with no difficulty.
The plants can be managed simply by cutting them down close to the ground in late winter to allow the emergence of all new growth. As the new stems develop, thin them to retain the strongest. Cut weak stems off at ground level.
My preference is to refresh the plant in spring by removing at ground level the oldest and weakest stems and thinning out congested growth. Then I shorten over-long stems enough to end up with a slim, vaseshaped shrub.
Follow either method of pruning with a scattering of fertilizer and a compost mulch.