Blackberry vs Raspberry

Blackberry and Raspberry are both good choices if you want your own fruit. The data below shows where they differ: size, pollination, harvest, hardiness, care and price.

Blackberry

Rubus fruticosus 2.5 m × 3 m after 10 years

Blackberry is a vigorous fruiting plant with long arching canes that is best tied to wires or a fence. It is self-fertile, so one plant gives a…

Fruit

Full sun

Part shade

from about CZK 150

Raspberry

Rubus idaeus 2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years

Raspberry is a suckering cane fruit: summer types crop on last year's canes, autumn types on the current year's shoots, sometimes right into autumn.…

Fruit

Full sun

Part shade

from about CZK 150

Key differences

Blackberry grows larger: 2.5 m × 3 m after ten years, against 2 m × 1.5 m for Raspberry (an estimate: sources differ).
Blackberry grows faster than Raspberry.
Blackberry tolerates drought better than Raspberry.
Blackberry needs less water than Raspberry.
Blackberry also takes chalky soil, Raspberry prefers acidic soil and struggles on chalk.
Blackberry also takes heavy clay, Raspberry needs a loose, free-draining soil.
Blackberry is harvested in July–September, Raspberry in July–October.

Which one to choose?

Blackberry is the better choice if you want quick results, you cannot water regularly, the soil is chalky or the soil is heavy clay.

Raspberry is the better choice if space is tight.

Watch out for

Blackberry

The thorny variety 'Himalaya' ('Theodor Reimers') is in fact Armenian blackberry (Rubus armeniacus): extremely vigorous, it forms impenetrable thickets through root suckers, rooting cane tips and bird-sown seed. It is a banned invasive species in Switzerland, is on the German list of potentially invasive species, and escapes and spreads in Central Europe, the Carpathian Basin included, mainly around towns and in sandy habitats. Thornless garden varieties are far tamer, though their cane tips also root where they touch the soil. Canes of thornless varieties can be killed back in hard winters below about minus 15 to minus 20 °C. Blackberry rust, grey mould and the redberry mite, which leaves some drupelets red and hard, are common.

Raspberry

In the hot, dry lowlands of Central Europe summer heat and drought are the main problem: the roots are shallow, so without mulch and regular watering the fruit stays small and dry, and the plant scorches in full midday sun. Leaves may yellow on limy soil. Cane spot and grey mould are common, raspberry beetle grubs spoil the fruit, and roots rot in waterlogged soil. Canes that have fruited must be cut out at the base every year.

The data side by side

Feature	Blackberry	Raspberry
Group	Fruit	Fruit
Size after 10 years	2.5 m × 3 m (uncertain)	2 m × 1.5 m (uncertain)
Ultimate size	1.5–3 m × 2–8 m (uncertain)	1.5–2.5 m × 0.5–1.5 m
Growth rate	Fast	Medium
Light	Full sun, Part shade	Full sun, Part shade
Soil	Average garden soil, Clay, Sandy, Calcareous, Acidic	Average garden soil, Acidic, Sandy
Hardiness	down to -29 °C (USDA 4, RHS H7)	down to -34 °C (USDA 4, RHS H7)
Heat tolerance	no data	Low (uncertain)
Foliage	Deciduous	Deciduous
Flowering	May–September, white, pink (uncertain)	May–August, white
Harvest	July–September	July–October
Self-fertile	yes	yes
Water need	Medium	High
Drought tolerance	Medium	Low
Maintenance	Medium	Medium
Planting distance	200 cm	50 cm
For dogs	Non-toxic (uncertain)	Non-toxic
For children	Non-toxic	Non-toxic
Typical price	approx. CZK 270	approx. CZK 300

Prices are rounded, indicative values. Toxicity data is for information only. If your pet or child has eaten a plant, contact a vet or a doctor. Data updated: October 17, 2026

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