KeepItLow- Unfortunately, this story has been repeated many times here... the Big Box stores mislabeling plants, selling plants that won't fruit (or even grow) in your zone, and not knowing about the plants their selling. I got suckered into the carton'd raspberries from Home Depot way back and that was a big mistake. (wound up digging up all the dead canes and got my money back what a waste of time) That said, I have gotten other plants from the big box stores and been OK. I may get some Boxwoods at HD tomorrow... but never fruit plants. Wow, confusing a Latham (a summer raspberry) for a Heritage (a fall bearing raspberry) is a big disappointment. It means you'll have to wait an extra year for your berries. I do know that HD does often sell Latham in those cartons though. Kiowa, Shawnee, Illini Hardy, Chickasaw, Prime Jim, Prime Jan are all thorny. But, with such good thornless varieties out there, I'm really not too interested in trying them. I'd be disappointed too. How long have they been in the ground? You could try to get your money back, but then you're in the "wait for another full year for blackberries" cycle. -Glenn

Hi Everyone! Thanks again for everyones input, my comments below Oregonwoodsmoke Thanks for the suggestion in terms of using a cross line between wires, Excellent suggestion! It is simple enough but at the same time, I would have never thought of that. In terms of mowing down the fall berries, that is my plan as well. I plan to remove the clothes line from my turnbuckles and mow away. As for the clothes line, Im actually using a more heavy duty version of the green vinyl coated line. This line is stiff but not quite as stiff as many of the wire coils you mention. Glen Thanks for the suggestion on the deer spray. I hate to put money into the garden in lieu of a more permanent solution but this might be the best option. How long does the Deer Out last? We usually get hard thunderstorms throughout the summer so do you have to continually reapply? As a side note, I was talking with my "mystical friend" and she said that I have to release my fear of the deer! She claims that my continual worry is what is attracting them to my beds. She might be right (laughing)!! Ive been paranoid of the deer every since I put in my main garden (1000 sq ft) five years ago. I think your advice on waiting to see how the plants grow is good. Ill watch their growth patterns this year and make adjustments as I go along. athenainwi Thanks for your advice. I didnt think about keeping the varieties separate, that is a great "note to self." In terms of keeping different varieties separate in each bed, does everyone have any recommendations given that fact that I already have multiple varieties in each bed? For example, if either Heritage or Anne crowds out the other, should I just prune the shoots of either variety to keep them in check??? Ive also noticed that Heritage is starting to move in on my Jewel plant in Bed 2. backyardener Yes, that is the exact same line that I purchased from Lowes. It seems to be pretty sturdy for the most part. socalliegal You might try doing a Google search on each species to get their growth habits. Im new to this too and Ive had to do a TON of homework to get this all figured out. I am surprised that more vendors dont offer information on growth habits or trellising when they sell their plants. You might also post this as a separate topic on GardenWeb. You will probably get more replies that way. For what its worth, here are my suggestions Canby This looks like a fall bearing raspberry so you will probably want to mow the plants down after they fruit. You could go with a simple "T" trellis design with your crossbar at 3 feet. This should keep them contained. But you dont necessarily need to use a trellis for these berries due to their growth habit. If you grow these in a hedgerow, Ive heard that for good light penetration and growth you should keep the hedgerow at a width of (12-15"). So the only pruning that will be done on these is on the suckers (new plant shoots) that grow outside this width. Someone please correct me if Im wrong. Black Satin I believe these are considered "semi erect." So they will grow upright for a while and then the canes will flop over. When the flop onto the ground, the canes will tip root (mine did) and multiply. So you will need a trellis to keep them off the ground and additional support as the plant gets larger. You can prune the tips of the canes at (3-4 ft) (depending on the height of your trellis lines) and then attach the canes to your line. The plant will start to produce lateral branches once cut which you can train to your lines as well. I will see if I can find the page I used for my trellis designs and then send it to you. In the meantime, you can check out the following page for info: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/html/ec/ec1303/ They have a good page on raspberries as well. Thanks again everyone!!! Terry

Native little wild blackberry often has the same 'white dust' on the new growth as the black raspberries. Just because 'all the sites' say a species has a particular characteristic doesn't mean that characteristic is going to definitively separate that species from all others. Species descriptions are maddeningly incomplete. And plants are variable.

The raspberry instructions are fine; the two-year-old canes can be pruned anytime after they have been harvested. although if there are a lot of green leaves remaining, that can benefit the planting. For erect blackberries such as Apache and Ouachita, your pruning summary above is standard. It is intended to create a plant that requires little or no support from a stake or trellis, that is why the laterals are pruned so short. I don't know what "Tie the pruned canes to your fencing" means with respect to blackberry training. Perhaps you meant trellis. With this pruning style, the most that would be needed is one central stake per clump of canes. This pruning method means you will be relying on a large number of canes to generate a large crop. Otherwise blackberries can be allowed to run wild, they will form fruit all along the length of the lateral no matter how long it gets. Most people do not need or want that many berries. It may be well into June or even July before your canes are tall enough here to prune; let them get one or two feet taller than your target height so that the top is sturdy enough to bear laterals. You can certainly do the thinning in spring if sprouts are numerous. Let them get big enough so that the stronger ones become apparent.