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The summer’s biggest yields — and without thorns 🍇
Family: Rosaceae · Pot diameter: 13cm · organically grown · Height: approximately 40–45cm
Rubus NAVAHO® ‘Summerlong’ keeps summer filled with blackberries for weeks. Large glossy berries ripen from mid-July into late August, with sweet fruity flavour and firm melting flesh, while upright thornless canes make tying and daily picking genuinely pleasant. It is ideal when you prefer steady small baskets over a long period rather than one brief concentrated crop, combining practical garden architecture with an extended season of fresh fruit.
Separate last year’s fruiting canes from new ones and pick frequently so each berry reaches full black ripeness.
‘Summerlong’ was selected for duration: large fruit, thornless canes and a steady harvest flow for around six weeks.
Fruit ripens successively from mid-July to late August.
Large black berries combine good firmness with juicy fruity flesh.
A smooth cane surface and vertical habit simplify care in a narrow row.
Why you will love it: It provides frequent fresh picking through much of summer without scratches or difficult trailing canes.
Plant in sun or bright partial shade, allowing 1–1.5m between plants. In very hot areas choose morning sun.
Aromatic flowers, flat flower heads and low evergreen groundcover support insects and clear access.
Sun or bright partial shade; afternoon protection during prolonged heat.
Even moisture from flowering until the end of harvest.
Good winter hardiness to about −20°C, with protection from cold drying wind.
Wash fully ripe fruit before eating.
Plant in deep fertile soil that drains well yet stays cool. Add organic mulch around the roots without covering the cane bases.
Water deeply when the top few centimetres dry. Even moisture from flowering to harvest helps fruit fill uniformly.
Fan 4–6 last-year canes over three wires and tie new canes separately in the centre.
In early spring add mature compost and a balanced fruit-plant feed according to its label. Avoid excess nitrogen.
Mulch the roots, remove weeds by hand and pick frequently. During prolonged heat, provide light afternoon shade.
Remove fruited canes as August ends, thin the centre and pick every two days.
It is self-fertile and crops alone. Bees and bumblebees help large berries develop evenly.
It ripens successively from the second week of July into mid or late August.
Wait until fruit is fully black, loses a little of its high gloss and releases without pressure.
Secure netting to a separate frame as fruit begins to colour and leave easy access.
After planting: tie the main cane, keep roots cool and allow new canes to reach the wires.
Immediately after harvest, with a winter check of laterals
‘Summerlong’ fruits on canes grown the previous year. After the final picking remove only fruited canes at the base and tie new green canes into their place.
Action: Train new green canes separately from fruiting ones.
Retain: Retain 4–6 strong new canes.
Action: Spread last year’s canes over the wires and remove only overlong laterals.
Retain: Retain short well-lit laterals with flowers and fruit.
Action: After picking cut brown fruited canes at the base.
Retain: Tie green new canes to the vacant wires.
Use sharp, clean tools suited to the diameter of the wood.
Renew ties and remove only broken or diseased wood.
Do not do this: Do not confuse new green canes with brown fruited ones; the green canes are next year’s harvest.
New canes rise in the centre while last year’s canes open over the wires.
Short laterals produce large black fruit successively for many weeks.
After August fruited canes leave and new ones take over the fan.
Mature ‘Summerlong’ spreads last year’s canes in an open fan while keeping new canes vertical in the centre.
The extended harvest comes from successive flowering of lateral buds, not from a second generation of new canes.
What to expect after planting: New canes rise in the centre while last year’s canes open over the wires.
‘Summerlong’ came from Lubera’s continuing work with upright thornless blackberries of the NAVAHO® line. This genetic foundation had already solved two old blackberry problems: difficult trailing canes and troublesome prickles.
Breeders then sought a longer harvest. In multi-year trials one selection stood out with large glossy fruit that did not ripen all at once, but successively from mid-July to late August while retaining sweet fruity flavour.
The cultivar was released as NAVAHO® ‘Summerlong’, a name describing its main garden value: a long summer of picking from one orderly thornless row. It retained the family’s upright architecture while spreading ripening across many weeks.
Buds along the year-old cane do not open simultaneously. Their developmental gradient naturally extends the ripening window.
Firm yet juicy texture depends on pectins holding small fruitlets together, while these gradually break down during full ripening.
Six practical answers for choosing, growing, harvesting and pruning this exact cultivar.
It is self-fertile and crops alone. Bees and bumblebees help large berries develop evenly.
2–3m high and approximately 0.8–1.2m wide, with the habit described above.
Yes, in a very large container of 60 litres or more with a heavy stable frame to 2m.
It ripens successively from the second week of July into mid or late August.
No. It is a summer cultivar with one long ripening period on last year’s canes.
Immediately after harvest remove brown fruited canes and spread the new ones.
