I have been growing blackberry, blueberry and raspberry plants for a few years now and noticed that the blueberry and raspberry plants lose their leaves in autumn, however my blackberry plants retain them through the winter in zone 6b northwest Ohio. Typically, I’ll prune off the old leaves in late winter because they are either dry but haven’t fallen off the plant or somewhere in the process of drying out. The soil in the container remains moist over the winter in my unheated garage even though I rarely, if ever, water them during that time. Is it normal for blackberry plants not to lose their leaves?
It happens, especially in a mild winter. My Triple Crown still have a lot of leaves.
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Do you prune them off or leave (pun intended) them be?
I just leave them, no reason to remove them.
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I can confirm it’s normal. Surprised your blueberries don’t retain leaves. Some of mine keep them till mid winter. Since the plant is dormant leaving or cutting off leaves matters little. If you like it neater you can remove them it won’t hurt plant. I’m fairly lazy. Must say. Today I just removed the fruit spent upper third of my raspberries. Finally found some time to do it. Noticed they are leafing out already. A couple weeks to a few weeks early. Blueberries have green tip too.
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Are your blueberries in the ground or in a container? Mine are in a container and will feel the cold sooner than if planted in the ground. I’m also growing dwarf blueberry varieties not standard size although I have seen that it’s possible to grow standard size highbush blueberries in containers.
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If multiple canes or laterals are bundled closely, removal of old leaves, especially if diseased or non-green color, can help with emergence of new leaves and fruiting spurs by reducing the density of the trained canes. I remove all spotted leaves (septoria) rather than leaving then on-cane or on the ground.
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Both in raised beds and containers. I think the leaf retention has to do with linage. Legacy is a northern/southern cross, a little rabbiteye in Noctourne. The true northern high bushes dropped all leaves.
Cool you’re growing the smaller cultuvsrs. Seems many are excellent. I sort of picked up one this year. It’s called mini blues. Has top rate excellent flavor. It’s also vigorous and I need a strong plant in the spot I’m filling. I also have north blue which is a smaller sized northern. Has some low bush in it. Is in that tough spot too and doing well. A marine type environment with high humidity and rapidly changing temps. Salt goes rock hard in one month if not in sealed Tupperware. Chips get stale and soggy once opened. Argh! I use a lot of Mr lid containers for stuff
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Its been talked about before… Drew answered it very well.
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