North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[drbeckl <drbeckl@yahoo.com>]

 Hi;
I have bot 25 blackberry bare-root plants last fall, and have them
heeled-in
the soil to plant in a new garden area in March or April.  They are all
thornless varieties:  Arapaho, Navaho, Ouichita, Triple crown, Apache,
Chester.

I am going to plant them in a old hayfield, that is not yet fenced in.
[
against deer. ]
There are deer around this area that come in and eat at nite.  I have
noticed that deer here do not seem to eat the wild blackberry plants
that
grow around here; but the wild b.b.'s have thorns on them.  They also
mite
taste differently to deer than tame b.b.'s.

I also have another main garden area fenced in with a electric fence to
protect the food crops from the deer; but there is no room in that plot
for
the blackberries.

My question is:  Will the deer damage the thornless blackberry plants ?
i.e.: Do deer like to eat thornless blackberry plants ?  Should I fence
in
the blackberry patch before I do the planting of the b.b. plants ?

I was hoping to postpone fencing in the blackberry plot until fall,
2007;
if at all possible.  But, if deer do like to eat thornless blackberry
plants, then I will have to do the fencing before I set the bare-root
plants
out.

Also; do I have to worry about field mice  girdling the b.b. plants 
lower
stems ???  Should I put plastic, or duct tape, around the lower stems
to
protect them from being girdled by the field mice ??
                    thanks for any help,
                                        dan in WVa, usda zone 6.



 
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