Red Currant vs Chester Thornless Blackberry - TreeTime.ca

Red Currant vs Chester Thornless Blackberry

Ribes rubrum

Rubus fruticosa Chester (Thornless)

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Red Currant
Chester Thornless Blackberry

Red Currant is a deciduous shrub native to western Europe. It features five-lobed, maple-like leaves, and bright red berries that can be used in jams, sauces, and fresh eating.

Although this shrub is self-fertile, it will be more productive if another pollinator is present. For year over year high yields, ensure you fertilize (bone meal), prune, and mulch your Red Currant shrub.

Chester Thornless Blackberry is a self-pollinating fruit-bearing shrub. In mid-summer, the Chester Thornless Blackberry produces large, sweet-tasting, heart-shaped blackberries that are perfect for fresh eating. It is a semi-erect blackberry plant that requires little support from a trellis to keep its fruit off the ground. Don't forget to protect your berries. The birds love this shrub almost as much as you will.

Chester Thornless Blackberries are floricanes, primarily fruiting on second year canes. Each spring cut back all two-year old canes, leaving only the last year’s growth.

Red Currant Quick Facts

Chester Thornless Blackberry Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 3b
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Spread: 3 m (10 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: fast
Life span: medium
Life span: short
Suckering: none
Suckering: high
Maintenance: medium
Maintenance: high


Flowers: pink
Berries: heart shaped black
Firmness: firm
Harvest: July
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Other Names: chester blackberry, hardy blackberry