About
Reuben' is a late primocane blackberry, fruiting on canes in the first year and produces large, 11g sweet black fruit in late summer on compact thorny canes. The fruit are of moderate flavour and are suitable for desserts and cooking.
About the genus
Rubus can be deciduous or evergreen shrubs, often scrambling with bristly or prickly stems bearing simple, lobed, palmate or pinnate leaves and 5-petalled flowers followed by juicy, sometimes edible fruits
Growing conditions
SunlightFull sun
Soil typeClay, Loam, Sand
Soil pHNeutral
Soil moistureMoist but well-drained
AspectSouth-facing, West-facing
ExposureExposed
UK hardinessH6
Plant details
Plant typeShrubs, Fruit Edible
HabitTrailing
FoliageDeciduous
Height1.5-2.5 metres
Spread1-1.5 metres
Time to full height2-5 years
Suggested usesCottage and informal garden, Wildlife gardens
Care notes
CultivationCan be fan trained and tolerates most soils but does best in neutral or slightly acid soils, but sun to flower and fruit well. Since this is a late flowering blackberry it needs a warm, late sunny summer for the fruit to ripen well. Mulch with well-rotted compost. May have the potential to become a nuisance if not managed well. See blackberry cultivation for further advice
PruningCut out old canes following fruiting and tie in new canes; see pruning blackberries
PropagationPropagate by layering or by cuttings
Pest resistanceMay be susceptible to aphids, leafhoppers, raspberry beetle and gall mites
Disease resistanceMay be susceptible to grey moulds and honey fungus (rarely)