Every university extension I’ve looked at shows spacing trailing cane berries at 10 ft, whether a raspberry, blackberry, or hybrid. I’d like to fit a few more varieties in my new berry bed wondering how others space their trailing types.
Well mine barely live here, so they never get that big, so I use 4 feet. I would try 5 feet, you can always remove some or move them if you have to. It may set them back, but they will recover.
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I have had clumps of various caneberries spaced at 2 or 3 feet for 20 years. There is a practical minimum of course, but it mostly depends on the nature of your trellis and how densely you want to train the canes, rather than the ground spacing.
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I’ve seen 4 ft spacing recommended but then I also read that raspberries spread rapidly. I went with 2 ft spacing but is only the second year and I plan to have a solid vertical trellis in place this year. Figured I can always prune out the excess if things get a bit too tight.
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University extensions tend to focus on commercial, large-scale practices where harvest is often mechanized and diseases cut into profits.
For home-grown caneberries, turning your back on thorny varieties in tight quarters often dictates the minimum spacing.
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Are you talking about erect berries that spread by sucker? I’m talking about trailing types that typically tip root.
Thanks all for the input. I will go closer variety is the spice of life:)
You know my erects tip rooted or suckered worse than the trailing types. Those thornless types I would plant farther apart, Smaller side canes would always find the ground. Wyeberry which is a boysen type on steroids, is supposed to be trailing!
That one is semi-erect, grows up and arcs right for the ground. I intercept and tie to a trellis.
Interesting. I’m going to experiment with tayberry , boysenberry, bababerry raspberry and maybe Logan or Marion
I have all types in my patch: erect/semi/trailing. Same spacing advice for all. I found thornless Logan to have quality fruit, but thornless Boysen was inferior compared to thorny.
If you maintain your berry bed at least weekly, unwanted tip-rooting is easily prevented.
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I can’t and it’s a pain, but I still manage it! I found some of the uprights just grow huge and spread so fast, I would have liked more spacing. I pulled all of them.Three years later I’m still finding plants from roots!! I decided this spring any that remain get to stay! I give up! 
If it grows that well, I should probably keep it! I will give them more room to try and contain them.
I should point out that when combining various caneberries in close quarters, vigorous growers like Chester and Triple Crown should be kept to the north, and perhaps in smaller numbers, otherwise they will shade/crowd out the trailing varieties.
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Good point about placing North. Natchez too! I liked Navaho it tasted like Triple Crown but is a lot tamer. I do plan to keep any that come back and place in a better spot
This area will be getting a lot of sun over 10 hrs in summer. Maybe it would be best to have triple crown (which I’m planting) on south so it can maybe shade the hybrid berries a bit. I think the hybrids may struggle with the heat and humidity of Georgia. One good thing about my location is at 1000 feet elevation the temperature never got above 93 degrees last summer. However every day was 91,92, or 93 not many breaks. Great for watermelons!
…the problem being that Triple Crown is especially vulnerable to UV damage that causes white drupelets and many unusable berries.
Many of the varieties mentioned in this topic are successfully grown or developed in the Willamette Valley where the summers are hot and dry. Aside from varieties susceptible to UV damage, blackberries can take a lot of heat and sun. In stretches of 90+, they do need regular irrigation. Overhead watering of ripe fruit is not the best, it can increase mold.
Hopefully triple crown will work here i know people that are happy with it very close to me. I will be putting drip line in but there will be overhead water from the rain. One reason I want to trial a few different plants that way I can pull the losers and propagate the winners into their space
Yes, rain is overhead watering. Here in the Willamette Valley, Mid-June up to October is very dry.