How to Grow Blackberries on a Fence Line

Choose a space along the fence that receives mostly sun or sun with some shade. Select a level area that is not prone to standing water. Make sure the continuous stretch of ground and fence is at least 7 ½ feet long and that the fence is at least 2 feet tall.

Plant the blackberries in early spring. Aerate the ground in a 2-foot by 3-foot area in the approximate center of the stretch of fence using a spade and remove any weeds, roots, stones and other debris. Work soil improver into the dirt with a gardening fork.

Arrange three erect blackberry plants along the prepared area. Space the plants about 2 feet apart. Cover the roots with the soil so that they are buried as deeply as they were in the original container.

Water the blackberry plants only when the soil seems excessively dry or there is a drought. Blackberries are very thirst-resistant, and are more likely to be over-watered. Prune the bushes in their second year by trimming spent canes down to the ground with gardening shears and thinning each bush to four canes per foot.

Secure the blackberry vines gently to the fence with gardening twine once they grow tall enough to bed over. Keep the vines secured until the growth is well-trained to the fence. Remove the twine when the blackberry plants continue to climb the fence on their own.