How to Prepare Soil for Blackberries

Blackberries are large perennial bushes that can grow to 10 feet in both height and width. They can also live for many years with the right care and produce fruit through the summer. To live and produce, though, blackberries need the right mixture of drainage and nutrition in their soil, with full sun and plenty of space. If you're planting blackberries for the first time this year, prepare planting sites at the right spacing and with the right amendments.

Garden fork
Quick-draining soil
Organic compost

Instructions

- 1
  Start your soil preparation after the last frost in your area, to allow soil to rest for several weeks before you plant the blackberry seedlings. Find a large site that gets bright sun for seven to eight hours a day and drains quickly after watering or rain. Since blackberries are perennials, your site must drain well all year.
- 2
  Mark planting sites at every 3 to 4 feet in the row. If you're planting multiple rows, give each row 7 feet of space for these large plants. Prepare the soil only in the planting sites, to save yourself the work of turning up the soil in the entire site. Remove weeds, rocks and any wild blackberries or raspberries from the site.
- 3
  Break up the top 10 inches of soil in each site with a garden fork and add 3 inches of organic compost for drainage and moisture retention. Blackberries need good drainage more than nutrition, so add quick-draining garden soil, in 1-inch increments, to further loosen thick soil. As you add amendments, gather handfuls of soil and squeeze it; soil that falls apart easily is ready for planting, whereas soil that sticks together is still too thick for planting.

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