Raspberry/blackberry varieties for screen?

[Derek Reese 29]

So I am starting to plan a screen for the spring but wanted to know if anyone has ever grown one with thorny berries or if there was something else that I could use to make it unpleasant to walk through? I don't have the slightest idea where to begin looking for stock to get shipped and plant next year, but I figured someone on here might know. I need to plant about 60-70 yards worth maybe spaced out 5 feet in offset rows so it fills in and makes a nasty piece of cover. I will be planting switchgrass, Norway spruce and white pine also in this screen. Still haven't really figured out how exactly I am gonna lay it out but am looking for ideas to get started on ordering. Thanks in advance!

 

[homerj1]

Thorny blackberry varieties like Darrow make for an intimidating and painful hedge to walk through.

 

[Charles Clear]

osage orange.

 

[PatinPA]

If it gets a lot of sunlight, Bowsnbucks suggested washington hawthorne to me. If you have a lot of sunlight, the raspberries and blackberries will grow and spread fast. I have a patch in my backyard and it gets out of control quickly. blackberries are much more painful to walk through in my opinion if that's what you're going for.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

If it gets a lot of sunlight, Bowsnbucks suggested washington hawthorne to me. If you have a lot of sunlight, the raspberries and blackberries will grow and spread fast. I have a patch in my backyard and it gets out of control quickly. blackberries are much more painful to walk through in my opinion if that's what you're going for.

I have been thinking about hawthorns too...I just want it to be very not fun to walk across for man or beast and to be a visual screen..i looked at those darrow berries and they look good (8' tall and 5' wide).....its going into an existing hayfield that faces south so the sunlight shouldnt be an issue...im thnking of doing a few different varieties of each..i have a big patch down below my house but no idea how to transplant them and dont mind getting a bunch shipped in and just popping them in the ground (dont think they will take much damage from deer, voles, rabbits as I want them all to have thorns)

 

[gunfun13]

This won't go ever well with some, but I use multiflora rose. Given it's invasive status you can't buy it. If you already have it, it transplants very easily..if you don't already have it, I wouldn't introduce it.

 

[Tree Spud]

Last thing I would plant on my property are blackberries. I am actually trying to kill them off at my place as they spread like crazy by birds eating them and crapping their seeds everywhere.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Last thing I would plant on my property are blackberries. I am actually trying to kill them off at my place as they spread like crazy by birds eating them and crapping their seeds everywhere.

well I only own 9 acres and already have a bunch of blackberries down by my lower field, but I want this screen to get big and brushy and become like a windbreak as the field is oriented east to west and I am putting it at the western side so if it spreads a little towards where the pines and spruces are and i wouldnt mind...woohoo more cover!

 

[Telemark]

I wouldn't use raspberries. They spread like crazy and are not that great of a hedge. Blackberries are an effective hedge but also spread like crazy. I think blackberries are a lot easier to kill off than raspberries if they become a problem.

There are a lot of other plants that can make a good hedge. Various willows, plums, and even beech will do the job.

 

[Prof.Kent]

 

[Turkey Creek]

Our wild blackberries here still are holding their leaves, but I agree I would certainly not plant them where you can not control them. They get thicker, nastier and spread by the day.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Blackberries will certainly make a painful barrier. If you plant them - and they spread, which they will - you may just have to be willing to spray them to kill them where you don't want them. Birds and other critters will have those seeds going all over.

As for Washington hawthorns ...... deer will find a way into / through them. But people will have a nasty time trying to get through a line of them. We've had haws for over 24 years and I won't try going into / through them. They grow LOTS of brushy limbs and all those limbs have 1" to 2 1/2" long HARD needle-like thorns! You'd need a full set of Carhartt insulated heavy duck clothing and a full-coverage head / face shield like welders wear to attempt going through haws !!!! But birds LOVE to nest in that thick, protective cover - and they eat a lot of bad bugs.

The red berries they produce are favorite foods of grouse and turkeys. The dropped berries will sprout more haws for you (free tree seedlings!!) - which you can let grow where they fall - or transplant them to another spot.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

I wouldn't use raspberries. They spread like crazy and are not that great of a hedge. Blackberries are an effective hedge but also spread like crazy. I think blackberries are a lot easier to kill off than raspberries if they become a problem.

There are a lot of other plants that can make a good hedge. Various willows, plums, and even beech will do the job.

I have a few chickasaw plums planted down below my house near the road...so far they are only about 2 feet tall...i will keep an eye on them so i get an idea of how they do when they start spreading...I really just want this to be impenetrable...I will have a backdrop of taller white pines and norway spruce for the hedge/windbreak part and I dont really care if the berry canes spread into the trees once they are decently established...what a nice thick patch for deer to hole up in when they aren't eating my plot...

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Blackberries will certainly make a painful barrier. If you plant them - and they spread, which they will - you may just have to be willing to spray them to kill them where you don't want them. Birds and other critters will have those seeds going all over.

As for Washington hawthorns ...... deer will find a way into / through them. But people will have a nasty time trying to get through a line of them. We've had haws for over 24 years and I won't try going into / through them. They grow LOTS of brushy limbs and all those limbs have 1" to 2 1/2" long HARD needle-like thorns! You'd need a full set of Carhartt insulated heavy duck clothing and a full-coverage head / face shield like welders wear to attempt going through haws !!!! But birds LOVE to nest in that thick, protective cover - and they eat a lot of bad bugs.

The red berries they produce are favorite foods of grouse and turkeys. The dropped berries will sprout more haws for you (free tree seedlings!!) - which you can let grow where they fall - or transplant them to another spot.

they sound like exactly what I want....any idea where I could get some? I am starting to get a list together for the spring/Christmas presents to myself haha

 

[rogersb]

I bought 2 raspberry plants to put next to a dead cat's grave on the edge of our yard. They were 2 nice big plants that the deer mowed down to about nothing in a day or two.

 

[loshonhora]

like gunfun said, if you have multiflora rose in the area, you can transplant it. also, just stringing some wire between t posts will soon have tons of it growing underneath from the birds.

 

[Troubles Trees]

If you are looking for screening I would say pines, plumbs or dogwood. If you want to keep people from walking through, the NYS DEC seedling sale sells Wetland Rose. You likely won't find a better people deterrent I know than that s***. The thorns are hooked on mature WR and will shred your hunting clothes, the harder you pull the deeper it goes. In our rookie years, if one in our group shot a fawn they were the driver in Diablo. Diablo is the name we gave to a 10 acre thicket of a mix of WR and Dogwood that was a litteral hell going through.

Wetland Rose is very beneficial to game birds and deer, great cover for nesting turkeys and it bears rose hips not berries. I don't know how they do it but deer will eat the new growth that has hardened thorns on it

It is in the small trees/shrubs section here: https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/71275.html#ShrubsSmall_Trees

 

[Bowsnbucks]

they sound like exactly what I want....any idea where I could get some? I am starting to get a list together for the spring/Christmas presents to myself haha

Derek -

If you want to use a Pa. nursery, Musser Forests has Washington hawthorn seedlings of 8" to 15" for $1.78 / each if you buy 25, and $1.02 / each if you buy 50. I have some spruce and chestnut oak seedlings coming from them in the spring. Less shipping cost using in-state nursery.

Cold Stream Farm in Michigan also has them. I have seedlings coming from Cold Stream too in the spring. I've never gotten bad stock from Cold Stream - always nice stuff. I've gotten various seedlings from Cold Stream over several years. A little more to ship from Michigan, but the stock is good, so I pay the extra shipping costs. Either nursery should get you nice stock. Washington hawthorn grows pretty fast, especially if you toss down some 10-10-10 around them each spring. 15" seedlings at camp grew to 6 ft. tall in about 4 or 5 years doing the 10-10-10- thing in April each year. Deer WILL nip the young twigs that don't have thorns on them yet, so I cage ours until they get to about 7 or 8 ft. tall. By then they have enough UGLY needles to survive any deer nibbling. Once the needles appear, the haws self-protect, really.

EDIT:
I just checked Cold Stream for Washington hawthorn seedlings. They have 1' to 2' seedlings for $2.45 each if you buy between 25 and 99 seedlings. If nothing else - read the write-up on Washington hawthorns on the Cold Stream site. They're listed under "deciduous shrubs" because they don't grow really tall like regular trees. ( Our oldest haws are about 16 to 18 ft. tall after around 20 years, but they got partially shaded by pines until this September. Now that they're in full sun, they'll grow taller and fill out even more & produce more red berries). The positive attributes of the haws are pretty well listed there, including what critters eat the red berries.

 

[Charles Clear]

Derek -

If you want to use a Pa. nursery, Musser Forests has Washington hawthorn seedlings of 8" to 15" for $1.78 / each if you buy 25, and $1.02 / each if you buy 50. I have some spruce and chestnut oak seedlings coming from them in the spring. Less shipping cost using in-state nursery.

Cold Stream Farm in Michigan also has them. I have seedlings coming from Cold Stream too in the spring. I've never gotten bad stock from Cold Stream - always nice stuff. I've gotten various seedlings from Cold Stream over several years. A little more to ship from Michigan, but the stock is good, so I pay the extra shipping costs. Either nursery should get you nice stock. Washington hawthorn grows pretty fast, especially if you toss down some 10-10-10 around them each spring. 15" seedlings at camp grew to 6 ft. tall in about 4 or 5 years doing the 10-10-10- thing in April each year. Deer WILL nip the young twigs that don't have thorns on them yet, so I cage ours until they get to about 7 or 8 ft. tall. By then they have enough UGLY needles to survive any deer nibbling. Once the needles appear, the haws self-protect, really.

EDIT:
I just checked Cold Stream for Washington hawthorn seedlings. They have 1' to 2' seedlings for $2.45 each if you buy between 25 and 99 seedlings. If nothing else - read the write-up on Washington hawthorns on the Cold Stream site. They're listed under "deciduous shrubs" because they don't grow really tall like regular trees. ( Our oldest haws are about 16 to 18 ft. tall after around 20 years, but they got partially shaded by pines until this September. Now that they're in full sun, they'll grow taller and fill out even more & produce more red berries). The positive attributes of the haws are pretty well listed there, including what critters eat the red berries.

Thanks Bows! I just placed an order from them! Black Hills spruce and a few others. Nice selection, good prices.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Thanks Bows! I just placed an order from them! Black Hills spruce and a few others. Nice selection, good prices.

Hey Charles, did they allow you to say when you want them delivered? I would probably want mine next spring (maybe even a bit later like early May-ish....