I've just started thinking about planting these. Probably too late for this season -- and I still need to get my head around seeing them as an invasive.
At first I was thinking: primocane/everbearing sound good. Then i was thinking, hmm, maybe thornless is more of a priority. Are there any thornless primocanes? Seems like if you do a mix you get a longer season.
I've read stuff all over the map on how far to space them (20" - 6'). I guess it depends on the variety -- but they don't include that specific info on the OGW/Raintree entries.
The spot I'm thinking of is along the back of my house, facing west, plenty of sun. Haven't measured it yet but it's probably around 10'. How close to the house should I plant them? Can I trellis them on the house?
Any favorite varieties or other bramble wisdom?
John, do you do anything to keep them from spreading, e.g. Bamboo barriers? That's a big concern of mine.
Raintree says the primocane raspberries can be grown in a large pot. think Triple Crown blackberries could too?
i agree thornless sounds much better! Have you tried Canby thornless raspberries?
If only there were brambles that were both thornless and primocane bearing....
The blackberries won't really spread if they are actively managed and you keep the tips from touching the ground.
The raspberries will want to spread underground, even 8 feet or more. If you put them next to grass that is regularly mowed that should take care of the spreading..
Canby Thornless- made me wondrous 
about the variation in shape, colors of leaf and stem and habit of growth of raspberries growing side by side by side….. My thought, the taste was pretty mild, nice- though nothing special. Varietal seemingly VERY susceptible to one of those, probably, bacterial leaf browning maladies-due to the wet spring climate we've been experiencing. Took them out over the course of the two seasons I had 'em, as they became infected. They worried me. I think I overheard someone else express similarly they were not good in wet climes. I'm in Portland, OR.
James
I'm glad you started this thread... I had some of the same questions about raspberries, especially as my neighbor keeps offering me suckers from his patch. It makes me think of zucchini on the doorstep: those suckers that he needs to give to someone before he is overrun. Being originally from the Midwest, I'm always sort of afraid that our lack of hard freezes will create a monster out of some plant that I'm used to seeing as a small ornamental.
If left on their own, blackberries can completely takeover an area, though I don't see anything wrong with that. My father-in-law planted 2 thornless blackberries in his yard about 5 years ago. He's done just minimal pruning and they've now taken over a 6x10 foot area. And I have 4 plants that I'm letting takeover an even larger area. They're really not tough to manage, though. The most important thing in managing them is remembering to remove the canes that just produced blackberries, since they only produce them in the 2nd year.
I have been growing both raspberries and marionberries in my backyard for 20 years. 15' of raspberries and 10' or marionberries. My raspberries produce about 6 - 7 flats of berries every year. My marionberries about 1 1/2 flats. My raspberries run along the cedar fence line about 1.5 feet out. I use the old trellis method of burying a pressure treated post (about 3 feet under, 5 feet out) angled outward on each end. I used galvanized wire from Coastal Farm and Ranch in the fencing section (used for electrical fences) with a stainless bracket used to tighten the wire. After harvest I let the plants go wild until late fall, then cane them back agressively, pruning out all the dead cane (that produced berries) leaving only about 2-4 green new vines per bunch. I prune to 2 feet over the wire, then bend them over like a big candy cane and tie them off. Raspberry thorns are nothing. Blackberry and Marionberry are awful. I use leather gloves either way and avoid the prickers. Marionberries grow like crazy. I have to prune those all summer so they don't take over.
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