Can Raspberries and Blackberries Be Planted Together? | What Gardeners Should Know

Yes, raspberries and blackberries can be planted together, but most horticulture experts recommend keeping them separate to reduce the risk of shared diseases and simplify long-term management.

You’ve got a sunny spot in the yard and you want both raspberries and blackberries. The question isn’t really whether they’ll physically grow side by side — they will. The real question is whether co-planting sets you up for more headaches than it’s worth. The short answer is that it works, but separation is the smarter move for most home gardeners.

Why Separation Is Usually The Better Call

Raspberries and blackberries are both brambles with similar soil, sun, and water needs. That’s why co-planting is technically possible. But the shared traits also mean they attract the same pests and diseases, and the stakes are higher than just a few spotted leaves.

Piedmont Master Gardeners, drawing on the Mid-Atlantic Berry Guide, warns that blackberries can carry the curl virus without showing any symptoms. When planted near raspberries, the virus can spread and kill or weaken raspberry plants before you even know there’s a problem. Red raspberries planted near old blackberry patches face the same risk with mosaic virus.

The practical reality from Epic Gardening and extension sources: keeping the two separated by distance gives you a much better shot at a healthy, productive berry patch over the long haul.

Can You Plant Them In The Same Row?

You can, and many gardeners with limited space do exactly that. The key is accepting that you’ll need to manage the patch more carefully — more pruning, closer attention to disease signs, and better airflow around the plants.

GardenTech suggests spacing raspberries and blackberries 2 to 3 feet apart within a row to support good airflow. But if you’re mixing types in the same row, keeping them organized by variety makes pruning and disease monitoring much easier come summer.

What Both Berries Need To Thrive

Getting the basics right matters more than whether the plants sit in the same row or a separate one. Here’s what the extension sources agree on:

• Sunlight: At least 6 to 8 hours of direct sun daily. Less than that cuts yields and increases disease pressure.
• Soil: Well-drained sandy loam with a pH between 6.0 and 6.5. Both sources from Piedmont Master Gardeners and UGA emphasize at least 3% organic matter for good results.
• Drainage: Avoid low spots where water pools after rain. Standing water is a fast track to root rot and cane diseases.

Spacing And Support: The Tolerance Table

How far apart you plant depends on whether you choose to co-plant or separate. This table shows the recommended spacing from UGA and Piedmont Master Gardeners for each scenario:

Trailing types absolutely need a trellis. Erect types may not, depending on the cultivar — check the tag before planting if you’re skipping the support structure.

Planting Steps That Set You Up Right

Whether you plant together or apart, the planting procedure is the same. Skip a step and you’re chasing problems all season.

1. Choose the site — full sun, good drainage, and away from low areas or windy spots that dry out blossoms.
2. Soil test first — adjust pH to 6.0–6.5 and add compost or well-rotted manure if organic matter is low. Piedmont Master Gardeners says this is a non-negotiable step before planting.
3. Plant at the right depth — set container or bare-root plants so the crown sits at or slightly below the soil surface. UGA says root cuttings go horizontally 2 inches deep, and container plants should have roots about 2 inches below the soil line.
4. Mulch heavily — 5 to 6 inches of organic mulch (straw, wood chips, shredded leaves) after planting. It conserves moisture and suppresses the weeds that compete with young canes.
5. Water consistently — 1 to 2 inches per week during the growing season, especially in the first year.

When it works:

The canes will leaf out within a few weeks of spring planting, and the mulch will stay damp. If you see yellow leaves or stunted growth early, check the drainage first.

When To Plant

Timing varies by region, but the principle is the same: get the crowns in the ground while the soil is workable and before the last frost has passed. Piedmont Master Gardeners recommends late fall or early spring, about four weeks before the average last frost date. UGA says erect blackberries in its region (Southeast) go in during late February and early March. GardenTech keeps it simpler: plant in spring after the threat of frost has passed, which works for most of the US.

Pruning And Maintenance You Can’t Skip

Brambles that aren’t pruned become a tangled, disease-prone mess within two seasons. GardenTech recommends pruning raspberries and blackberries in late winter, while the plants are still dormant. Cut out all canes that fruited the previous year — they won’t fruit again — and thin the remaining canes to about 4 to 6 per foot of row for good airflow.

Common Mistakes That Kill The Patch

These are the errors extension sources see most often, and they apply whether you co-plant or separate:

• Planting too closely — poor airflow turns a small berry patch into a disease nursery by midsummer.
• Ignoring virus risk between blackberry and raspberry plantings — the curl virus and mosaic virus don’t care about your garden layout.
• Planting in wet, poorly drained soil — even the best pruning schedule won’t save brambles with soggy roots.
• Forgetting that trailing types need a trellis — untrained trailing canes sprawl on the ground, rot, and attract pests.
• Letting varieties blur together — a mixed row of blackberries and raspberries without clear plant markers makes targeted pruning and disease monitoring impossible.

One more thing that trips up beginners: don’t assume erect types never need support. Some heavy-fruiting erect cultivars benefit from a simple two-wire trellis even though they don’t require one.

What You Actually Need To Decide

The choice comes down to space versus long-term peace of mind. If you have the room, plant raspberries and blackberries in separate beds at least 12 feet apart, or put them on opposite sides of the garden. That distance breaks the disease transmission chain and keeps pruning simple — you always know which canes belong to which type.

If your space is tight, co-planting works, but you’re signing up for more vigilance. Space the canes at least 2 to 3 feet apart in the row, use a trellis system that keeps canes off the ground, and inspect the patch weekly for signs of virus or pest damage. Remove any cane that shows stunting, leaf curling, or discoloration immediately.

Either way, the soil prep and care steps are identical. The difference is how much you want to babysit the patch after it’s planted.