Supporting the Berry Canes
Berry picking season is over now, so it's time to get the bushes ready for next year.
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, I grow patches of raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, blueberries, and currants. For the best yields from these plants, it's crucial to keep them well-maintained - they need to be fed and pruned regularly. My raspberries and blackberries, which have long canes, are also well-supported with upright granite posts and heavy gauge copper wire. Earlier this year I added a couple more rows of berries to my garden. And this week, the vertical granite posts and wiring were installed.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- I have several rows of raspberries on one side of my main greenhouse. They all produce so many fruits every summer because they are well-maintained through the year.
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- The upright posts are antique granite with heavy gauge copper wire laced through them to support the long canes. The posts came from China and were originally used as grape supports. A friend of mine acquired a lot of stone from this valley and I purchased a couple hundred pieces. They are also the same posts I use under my long pergola.
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- Last spring, I planted several blackberry bushes from Monrovia including ‘Columbia Giant,’ ‘Marion,’ ‘Columbia Star,’ and ‘Black Satin.’
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- By mid-summer, I was already tasting big, delicious, sweet blackberries.
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- The plants are growing fast, so now that the picking season is over, I asked Pete Sherpa from my outdoor grounds crew to install granite supports and wire to hold up the thriving canes.
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- Pete uses small scraps of wood to make these end blocks. And of course, they’re painted my signature “Bedford Gray.” Heavy gauge copper wire is available at hardware stores. It is malleable, corrosion resistant, and easily recyclable.
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- Pete drills a hole through each of the wooden blocks.
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- Wire supports the canes in three places, so each row needs a total of six blocks.
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- Pete then makes a second hole in each block.
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- The wooden blocks are about three-and-a-half inches long – just enough to support the wire efficiently.
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- Pete installed the posts the day before and drilled holes where the wire would be inserted. Here he is pushing through the copper wire from one end to the other.
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- Jute twine was used temporarily. The hole is big enough to fit several lengths of wire or twine.
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- Once it is all the way through to the end of the row and through the other post, Pete cuts the wire leaving about a foot of extra length on both sides.
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- Next, he threads the wire through the second hole in the block.
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- He does this for a second length of copper wire.
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- And trims it the same way – with about a foot extra. The entire process takes minutes to complete.
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- Now the two wires are threaded through the block so it is tight against the post.
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- The wire runs across the the row. The blackberry canes will be supported between the two wires as they grow.
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- Here is the row now – the canes are held up by the lower wires and kept off the ground.
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- To tighten the wires, they can be pulled and wrapped around the block.
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- And look at the rows from afar – it’s so easy to move through to access every plant. And the posts are perfect to use because they don’t rot over time like wood does. Granite posts and copper wire to support one’s berry canes… they’re very good things.
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