How to Prune Boysenberries

"Out With the Old, Up With the New" is the theme of this boysenberry pruning video. This summer at Boysenberry Farm we’re making next year’s harvest top priority. If you grow our Rudy’s Original Heritage Boysenberries or plan to grow them, they will require special attention soon after harvest. These instructions apply for any type of boysenberry vine, though.
Boysenberry vines have two types of vines and you need to be able to tell the difference! It's easy once you know what to look for, though. You'll prune out the old, faded floricanes (Out With the Old) and keep five to six new primocanes to train up onto trellis wires (Up With the New).
In this video, I'll show you how to easily tell the difference between the two types of vines. This way you'll avoid making mistakes. You'll only prune out the old floricanes that already gave you delicious boysenberries. Once they're done producing fruit, they die. The new, lush primocanes have already been growing ever since the vines came out of dormancy in late winter. They should be eight to ten feet long, ready to weave onto the trellis wires after you remove the old floricanes.
The new primocanes are what will give you next year's boysenberries. You might want to keep all the primocanes that have emerged from the roots. Select only five or six of the thickest, longest ones, though, because the roots will then concentrate all their energy into those remaining canes.
Your newly trellised primocanes will continue getting longer and will send out runners. You'll be training those long runners back onto the trellis lines until they go into dormancy in winter and lose all their leaves.
Read more information on boysenberry vine care @RudysOriginal.com/blog. Thanks for watching!

[@davidfentonhancock6646]

Lovely, thanks from NZ!

[@carolferguson5879]

So glad I found your video! I bought two rooted cuttings 1 1/2 years ago and they grew quickly. I rooted the ends in small pots of composted soil and now have several more plants. This year, I got my first berries and they were delicious -- what a treat when I was working in the garden! I am just heading out to root some more plants, and now I have a better idea about keeping my plants thriving! I'm in Tampa.

[@snakeman2012]

Thanks for this video! It couldn’t have come at a better time, my boysenberry plant is giant and in need of pruning!

[@markmudge2846]

I do everything your are doing. I have 85 running feet of boysenberries. I got 16 gallons of berries this year, expecting 18 gallons next year. If I had watched your video 4 years ago, I would have a whole lot more berries. Thank you for your sharing you experiences with me. I make BB jelly and jam, and jellies from my citrus trees.

[@c.c.24]

You put 6 primocanes on trellis but what to do with the remaining primocanes?

[@MikeDawson1]

exactly, I'm wondering if she thins out the remaining canes from each crown to only keep the 6 strongest?

[@MD-dw5qg]

2400 VINES to prune? And I’m stressing out over one plant. 🙄 Thank you so much for this video, this will be my first time pruning my three year old Boysenberry plant! 😅

[@allisonc194]

Well thank you so much for this! I am in Oregon and planted maybe eight little bushes two years ago. This was our first year getting fruit. We had a spell of very high temperatures and I’d say I lost half of my berries. They just seem to shrivel up and die. They did get plenty of water. Do you have any advice? Thank you so much for this video. Boysenberries are my absolute favorite.

[@chezelleconroy2951]

Thank you! Very helpful 🇦🇺

[@wynnejoy]

Like a couple others, I'm wondering if you can share what you do with the remaining primocanes that were not trellised to the top. Do you leave them low? Prune them off? Weave them half way up? Please help! Many thanks from New Zealand.

[@siegel197866]

I'm going to grow mine over an arch trellis I made out of a cattle panel.

[@boysenberryfarm7863]

Sounds like a great idea! I would love to see a picture of them when they're all in bloom! The bees will be so happy! The boysenberries will be easy to pick from an arched trellis!

[@crystalgrose]

Just found your channel today and subscribed. I have always loved Boysenberry Jam. Boysenberries bring back so many fond memories. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve had the jam. I may need to have some again. Anyway, thanks for your wonderful channel! Great content and education ☺️♥️

[@feyisbored]

When does pruning season start? I live in Southern California (Sunset Zone 23)

[@boysenberryfarm7863]

Hi! We're pruning out the spent (dead) canes now in September, but they can be pruned over several months' time, actually. As soon as the floricanes (the ones that just bore fruit) are done producing their boysenberries in late spring, you can prune them out at ground level. It's a bit easier to tell which ones to prune if you wait until September because they'll be brown and look dead. That's how they are supposed to look. They don't continue to live after they're done giving you berries. Your old floricanes will be surrounded by the new, red primocanes with green leaves that emerge each spring to replace the floricanes. They will bear next year's boysenberries. Even the leaves look different on primocanes. Your old floricanes you'll be pruning out will have leaves of three, while the new-growth primocanes will have leaves of seven. It's a cycle that is perpetuated by the roots each year. The way the leaves change is that the new primocanes will shed their leaves in winter and go dormant. Then in early spring (late February, early March) their new floricane leaves of three will emerge just before they bloom. I know I answered more questions than the one you asked, but hope this helps give you an overall idea of how the boysenberry cycle works. Enjoy taking care of your boysenberry vines!

[@tiggerx40]

After you put up the 6 new primocanes did you cut the others out?

[@CaliforniaUnearthed]

Nicely done. I enjoy my time with you guys and look forward to next year.

[@vegandolls]

what's the hardiness zone? i'm wondering if it's too cold for them here...

[@boysenberryfarm7863]

The vines can survive down to 8° if you mulch them in winter.

[@rebeccathompson8782]

Thank you for sharing your expertise! I grew up near Knott's and have enjoyed these berries for a lifetime! Now I have a few vines of my own. It's the best thing we eat from our garden! So glad to know how to tame them.

[@MikesPOV]

Do you have a boysenberry pie recipe you'd like to share?

[@petermcfadden9426]

Congratulations on your centenary. Greetings from north Wales, UK.

[@petraschultz7292]

Thank you !! My vines are really long with shoots coming out all along the old vines. Should I wait and just let them fruit ? I planted them 2 years ago.

[@boysenberryfarm7863]

Hi! The vines you have right now that are long will bloom and bear fruit! Wait until after you harvest your boysenberries. Then prune the vines that gave you berries. The new ones coming up (called primocanes) need to grow so don’t prune them until after they’ve given you boysenberries the following year. Enjoy!

[@petraschultz7292]

@@boysenberryfarm7863 thank you so much 😊

[@ScottCrothers]

Just planted 10 plants earlier this year. So looking forward to eating them if I can keep them alive through the Winters to come.

[@boysenberryfarm7863]

Hi! If the plants were just planted earlier this year, you will not need to prune anything because you won’t have any dead floricanes. The ones that are growing right now, your primocanes, will lose leaves through the winter and when new leaves emerge next spring, they will become floricanes, bloom, and bear your boysenberries! Next year’s floricanes (currently called this year’s primocanes) will get trimmed next year after they bear fruit and begin to die, while your new primocanes that come in to replace the old will start the cycle all over again!

[@estebancarrasco8086]

Nice working

[@Soilfoodwebwarrior]

Hard to get good information on pruning these. Some resources have said to trim like a trailing black berry which is to remove everything after harvest, implying they fruit only on new growth. You suggest to trim like raspberries, as they are typically described as a raspberry and blackberry cross I was unsure. Thanks for the clarification

[@Death2Commies]

4 plants, 1st year 6 gallons of berries ! was told I wouldn't get any this first year, it helped I grew blackberries before, trained on wire with plastic ties, put tips in the soil to double the number to eight plants now , these berries are delicious ! was so fun to watch the bees go nuts over the blossoms this spring, at times a least a couple of dozen honeybees busy making delicious berries 🐝🐝🐝

[@chugginbeers]

Do you sell and ship plants?

[@boysenberryfarm7863]

We are currently putting in 1000 tip starts that we will harvest in the spring. Stay tuned at rudysoriginal.com next February and March for when they will become available again! Thanks for your interest! And depending on conditions, we may be able to ship our bare root vines. It depends on where you live. We will only ship to areas where we know the boysenberries can survive. If you mulch deeply, they can survive down to 8°F. Anything colder than that kills them.

[@markmudge2846]

I have about 40 plants that I sell at my yard sales. Selling to a commercial nursery one must be a certified grower as I am in Redlands CA.

[@chugginbeers]

​@Boysen Berry Farm hello, i planted boysenberry vines (og cultivar) from stark bros last sept. Temps hit -5 Fahrenheit and they survived because i piled straw up over and around them. They shot out this spring and are over 12" tall now. Next winter i will cover with double plastic and straw over the ground. More work but i can grow them here in michigan in zone 6. Thanks

[@ngs5554]

@@markmudge2846I’m close to Redlands and interested