[MalcW]

Hi All.

All being well we'll be moving house soon, from Hampshire down to Devon. In our garden we have blackberries growing; I have no idea what variety they are but they are really nice sweet ones that crop well, and I would like to take some cuttings with us. But never having done this, what should I do, and when? We've probably got a couple of months yet before we actually move. Many thanks.

[Kristen]

If you have some suckers coming off the main plant / clump you could dig them up.  Otherwise take cuttings, but its not really the right time of year

[Kevin67]

I'd dig the whole plant(s) up and take them with me.

[dmg]

Hi MalcW,
If you don't have any suckers coming off you can bury some stems and leave their tips uncovered, give the stem a few scrapes to wound it to encourage rooting. By the time of the move there should be roots formed where you have buried them and you can then sever them from the parent.

Dmg

[Kristen]

I'm doubting that layering will work in a couple of months, at this time of the year?

Doesn't take much effort to try though

Could layer straight onto a pot, if it could be arranged to be deep enough in the pot (cut a slot out of both sides of the pot, 3" below the rim), and if the cane could be really well anchored in the pot (couple of U-shaped wire clips pushed over the stem, into the soil in the pot, before it is topped up with compost) then the main stem could be cut off when you move, and the "cutting" left undisturbed in the pot to root on its own, if layering had not done the trick my then.