

It is very easy to harvest sloes from the blackthorn but, be careful, these fruits only really have any value if harvested at exactly the right time. Only a handful make it the first year, but the following years already provide abundant harvests. Sloes appear on the tree after the first blooming, usually in the third year of growth. This makes weeding underneath them easier for the season!



In the first years of growth (it matures and slows after 10 to 15 years), it can grow up to 2 feet a year, with a minimum of 1 foot when conditions aren’t perfect (60 and 30 cm, respectively). Fertilize poor soil with shrub fertilizer during the 2 or 3 first years.īlackthorn is one of the faster-growing shrubs.Regularly water over the 1 st year after planting.Care and pruning of blackthornĬaring for blackthorn is very easy because it is a shrub that requires quasi no care once it has settled in correctly. It is thus also ideal to create a tough defensive hedge, on top of its ornamental appeal. Take note that blackthorn is… full of thorns, place it well so that you won’t be pricked too often when passing by! Take care, if this is the case, to water regularly at the beginning for roots to penetrate well.Poor and clayish soil isn’t its best growing environment.Blackthorn loves sunbathed locations to produce sloes.You can still nonetheless plant your blackthorn in spring if you’ve purchased it in a container. It is ideal to plant blackthorn in fall to boost root development before winter. Growth rate – 1 to 2 feet/year (30 to 60 m) The Blackthorn fruit tree produces surprising fruits, sloes, that are always best when they’ve burst just after the first frost spells.
