How to Prune Chester Blackberries

Chester blackberries are a form of thornless blackberry developed in southern Illinois by the University of Illinois for use on its farms. Like all blackberries, Chester thornless blackberries produce a new set of canes each year, called primocanes. Once these blackberry canes mature to 1-year-old, they're called floricanes. Mature floricanes produce blackberries. Pruning blackberries keeps the vines tangle-free and manageable.

Pruning shears
Branch loppers

Instructions

- 1
  Cut back growing primocanes to a height of 48 inches in June or July. This process is called "tipping back." Cut the canes just above a point where a side-shoot sprouts from the cane.
- 2
  Tip back lateral shoots to 18 inches long in early spring of the following year. This will help the primocanes avoid winter injury.
- 3
  Cut floricanes down to the ground just above their crowns with branch loppers once their fruit-bearing season is over. Chester thornless blackberries produce fruit in late summer, so pruning will occur in early fall.

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