We originally planted one blackberry bush in a raised bed next to our side patio, but realized later that wasn't the right place for it. It was too small a spot for both fully grown rose and blackberry bushes. In addition, it necessitated running a bloody gauntlet first through rose bushes to get to the blackberries, and then through the blackberry bush to pick asparagus. Blackberries spread like crazy, and we found ourselves transplanting not one, but several plants to different locations in the yard. It particularly seems to like this spot next to the block wall in the northwest corner, near a drainage swale. It usually flowers in April and starts setting fruit, which ought to mature in May and early June. However, we were disappointed to find that the fruit dried up before fully ripening. Last year, we learned from gardeners in a Facebook group that blackberries do best when shaded from direct sun, so Mike engineered a shadescreen on a PVS pipe frame and we were rewarded with several dozen tasty berries. This bush has outgrown that particular design, so this year we used the frame from one of our pop-up canopies and put shade screen over the top instead of its cloth cover. This is 30% shade screen from Arizona Bag Company, instead of the denser Home Depot shade screen we used last year, so we will observe carefully and put a second layer on if it appears to be needed. I like the look of this shadescreen better as it's less noticeable.
We're also tying bits of colored yard around the fruiting canes (another great suggestion from Facebook group members!) in order to more easily identify the fruiting canes which should be removed after they've finished their job.
It's a lot less dangerous to pick them here, and hopefully we will be able to enjoy lots of blackberries this year!
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