North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

I've had to deal with it (Rubus procerus) for years.  It's a PEST and THEN some.  Canes go out 20 feet and more and tip layer.  Any piece of root comes up, so you either spend two to three years digging out the same clump, or you have to use herbicide.  The birds spread them all over the place.   Mow them repeatedly and they will keep coming back into November and even a small plant can layer itself during the wet winter.   One clump can spread to make a solid mound over 10 feet high that can literally cover acres after a few years.    It's the  NW answer to Kudzu.
The fruit is good, but not as good as the best cultivated berries.  Seeds are too large, for one,  Also, the plant is probably hardy to zone 7 at most.  In an unusually cold year it will freeze to the ground at 5 above 0.  

I understand there is a  disease that could be used to control it, but the disease wasn't released because of the commercial caneberries grown here.  However I've heard it has been found in the state anyway.
-Lon Rombough
Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at http://www.bunchgrapes.com  Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003. 
For even more grape lessons, go to  http://www.grapeschool.com
For all other things grape,   http://www.vitisearch.com

On Apr 21, 2008, at 2:02 PM, Ernest Plutko wrote:

Anyone have experience with Himalayan blackberry?  What is the
quality of the berry?  I understand it is a pest on the West coast.