'Navaho' Blackberry Plants

Navaho Thornless Blackberries

Navaho is a wonder, with all the sweet, juiciness of a traditional blackberry, but it's thornless, so a joy to harvest, and it's self fertile, incredibly productive and fairly vigorous. The large, bright berries are produced for about a month from late July through August. They are beautifully sweet straight from the cane, stay fresh for longer than a soft wild blackberry, and of course they are ideal for pie, jam, or for freezing. The flowers are pretty and attractive to pollinators. Have a look at the other blackberries we stock here.

Grow your own blackberries

This lovely, easygoing blackberry will fruit best in a sheltered spot in full sun, light shade is fine too, with moisture-retentive but well-drained soil.

Space plants around 60cm apart and mulch the soil with well-rotted manure in spring. Keep the canes watered in hot summers, and there's not much more to do. These are self-supporting, upright canes that won't need staking or tying in. In autumn, cut all the canes that fruited right down to the ground, leaving any new canes that have yet to produce flowers and fruit.

Blackberries will do well with other cane fruits nearby, so try creating a dedicated berry area in the garden, with some hybrid boysenberries, tayberries or loganberries alongside, to extend your berry-eating season.

Features

• Size: 2m high
• Fruit: large and plentiful
• Taste: sweet, excellent flavour
• Use: eat fresh or in jams and pies
• Thornless, upright stems, don't need support in sheltered sites.
• Picking: July and August. Stores and freezes well
• Colour: black
• Spacing: 60cm between plants

Did You Know?

Developed back in the 1980s, Navaho was the world's first upright thornless blackberry cultivar.

Water well after planting and during the first growing season. Feed occasionally with a multi-purpose feed during the growing season. Cut fruited canes to the ground in autumn. In spring, mulch with well-rotted manure or garden compost to improve yields and deter weeds.