Well I’d been putting it off and off and off and I can’t put it off anymore.
It’s time to tie up the blackberry.
The comfrey has served its purpose of being sort of a green compost so I pulled it and laid it down after some weeding, and pulling the brambles up.
The comfrey might regrow- it’s pretty much a weed.
Quite a lot of the vines had reached into the ground and started to root.
It’s really good I took care of this now and not a month from now!
As you can see it’s a bit of a mess all over.
Had to pull up these top roots as well. I just snipped off the root ball and tied it to the fence.
The result wasn’t that bad. I don’t really have a proper trellis, I’m just tying it to the fence like a yokel.
But at least it’s off the ground and properly weeded.
And I have plenty of space below the top vine to keep things going.
But man I have to ask myself- is all this worth it?
Pie is always worth it.
The Neanderthal Gardens 
Will you prune the shorter over winter? I have seen them grown on long canes like yours, but have never done it.
The process of rooting where they touch the ground is ‘layering’ because it roots where it ‘lays’. However, most of us would say that they ‘leap’.
I’m aiming for pie levels of berries so I’m gonna go for long canes I think
Canes will be more numerous next year, so after you prune out the old ones (which are the new ones now), you can prune the more numerous new canes (next year) shorter than the fewer canes will be this year. If you want to fill the patch in with more numerous canes sooner, you can plug the ‘leapers’ back into the patch, on the left or right. You can either wind the canes back in such a way that the leapers land where you want them, or just bury them just below the surface with the cut cane protruding a few inches fro the soil. (Of course it is too late if they were already discarded.)
So all the ones I pegged to the wall were new growth so they are the see ones- the only canes giving me berries this year were the ones existent on the plant when I planted them.
Yes. Those that were on the plant when you got it (which are often pruned off instead of expected to produce) grew last year, so produced sidshoots that bloomed and fruited (although minimally). You can prune them to the ground in winter, since they will not produce again. Those that you tied to the fence will produce sideshoots that bloom and fruit next year. They get pruned to the ground the following winter, as those that grew along the ground through the year get tied up the the fence to replace them. There will be more by that time. In the winter, new cane should be pruned shorter so that they to not overexert themselves with production. However, you might want to leave them as long as they are this year, just to see how much they can produce. Berry farmers train their canes on frames longer than your canes are, and they somehow produce very well. If yours do not produce very well, you will know to prune them a bit shorter the following winter. As new canes get more profuse through the next few years, you will want to cut them shorter just so they don not become such a tangled mess anyway.
Remember to not keep old canes past winter of the year that they produce. That is the main problem I see with cane berries. They get too congested.
Even now I’m getting a berry here or there which is a nice thing but I want to take a bowl down and fill it and make my favorite pie on earth: Marion berry pie