Berry growers often think of spring and summer as the main times to pay attention to their plants. These warmer months encourage the plants to produce new flowers and the tasty fruits we love. However, fall is also an important part of the berry plant’s life cycle.

Fall berry pruning can help keep your plants tidy while preparing them for the next season, but aggressive pruning can cause more harm than good. If you cut back too much growth at the wrong time of year, you’ll leave your plants susceptible to winter injury and disease.

I’ll cover how to prune a few popular berry types so you can enjoy large yields the following year.

Marge Elderberry

Duke Blueberry

Thornless Blackberry

Thornless Blackberry Bush

The Benefits of Pruning Berries

Snipping shoots at the right time prevents disease.

Fall berry pruning offers all kinds of benefits. Although chopping off pieces of your plants may seem a little scary, it will help them in the long run.

Here are some benefits of pruning your berry plants:

While proper fall berry pruning will benefit your plant, it’s harmful to trim the improper types of shoots or grab your clippers at the wrong time of year. Late winter or early spring is the major time of year to prune berries, but fall pruning also has its place.

Since each type of berry has unique pruning requirements, reading up on the type of plant you’re growing helps you remove the proper shoots at the right time.

Is Fall the Best Time to Prune Berries?

Removing dead branches helps healthy growth start strong.

Fall berry pruning works well for certain types of plants, but you shouldn’t prune all your berries at this time of year. Pruning canes and branches when they’re still growing stresses the plants and leaves them more susceptible to disease. It can also limit fruit set and harvest.

Late winter into early spring is the best time to prune blueberries, floricane blackberries and raspberries, huckleberries, and other woody fruits. Pruning in the fall leaves the plants susceptible to winter injury, especially if you live in zone five and below.

The fall is the perfect time to remove dead branches and canes, no matter the type of plant. If the growth is brittle, brown inside, and easily breaks, it’s dead. Use a pair of loppers or pruners to remove this dead tissue and provide space for new growth to expand.

How to Prune Cane Fruits in the Fall

Cane fruits include blackberries, raspberries, wineberries, and other plants that send out long, slender stems called canes. You can distinguish these plants not only by the type of berry they produce, but also by how they produce flowers and fruits.

You can categorize raspberries and blackberries into two main types: floricane and primocane (also known as everbearing). Floricane varieties produce berries on two-year-old canes, and primocane varieties flower and set fruit on one-year-old canes.

Pruning Primocane Varieties in the Fall

Clearing spent canes sends energy straight to the roots.

Since primocane varieties produce berries on one-year-old canes, you don’t have to worry about the canes surviving from one year into the next. This makes fall berry pruning very easy. All you have to do is cut the canes to the ground.

The late winter or early spring is the best time to complete this task. However, you can prune primocane berries in the fall, if you’d like. Grab a pair of sharp loppers or clippers, then cut all of the growth at ground level. This will help the plant focus on sending energy towards the roots and preparing for next year’s growth.

Pruning Floricane Varieties in the Fall

Only cut spent canes, keeping new growth intact.

Pruning floricane varieties of fruits is trickier than pruning primocane varieties. Since the plants fruit on second-year canes, you should leave first-year growth throughout the winter. However, you can remove canes that are in their second year of growth since these are done producing fruits and flowers.

The late winter and early spring are the best times to prune floricane varieties. While you may be tempted to prune back the brown floricanes in the fall, resist the urge to do so. Removing the canes too early prevents energy from flowing from the canes to the crown, weakening the plants as they head into winter and spring.

So, should you prune floricane blackberries and raspberries in the fall? In general, no. However, you can remove dead canes that may injure healthy growth. Grab a pair of sharp loppers and cut the dead material as close to the ground as possible. 

Fall Pruning for Blueberries

Crowded branches should be thinned for better fruit production.

Blueberries are another type of berry commonly grown in backyards and gardens. These perennials produce loads of juicy, blue fruits throughout the summer. Blueberry bushes will produce fruit without any outside care, but proper pruning will improve plant health and lead to a larger harvest.

Although pruning blueberries will improve plant health, trimming your plants at the wrong time will cause more harm than good. Late winter or early spring is the best time to trim back blueberry branches and remove crowded growth. You should avoid pruning in the fall, since this leaves the plants more susceptible to disease and cold stress.

However, you can remove dead or diseased branches in the fall. Use a sharp pair of clippers to remove any brown, easily broken growth. If you’re not sure if growth is dead, use your fingernail to scrape back the bark. A brown interior indicates the branch is dead, while a green layer means the stem is still alive.

Fall Pruning Elderberries

Thin old growth to encourage new, vibrant shoots.

Elderberries are a North American native shrub grown for their nutrient-rich berries. These plants grow just fine in the wild without any human intervention, but fall berry pruning to remove diseased, dead, and old growth helps the plants remain healthy and produce lots of fruit.

The late winter and early spring are the best times to prune elderberries. You should avoid major fall pruning, but removing dead growth is okay to do.