Early spring (March and early April, Zones 6 and 7) is the best time to plant dormant brambles. You can set plants in the late fall; however, plants set in the spring tend to yield more the first cropping year (13 to 15 months after planting) than fall plantings. Be sure to purchase only virus-free, certified plants to avoid loss of plant vigor or plant death.
It is even better to purchase tissue-cultured plants, which you can be more certain are virus-free, if you can find a source. These are young, small, vigorously growing plants that need to be planted after the last spring frost. Tissue-cultured plants usually arrive in June and will need more care (particularly watering) than dormant plants.
