Arrowwood vs Chester Thornless Blackberry - TreeTime.ca

Arrowwood vs Chester Thornless Blackberry

Viburnum dentatum

Rubus fruticosa Chester (Thornless)

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

Arrowwood
Chester Thornless Blackberry

Arrowwood is a cold hardy, reliable, and vigorous shrub that can easily grow on difficult sites. Featuring an upright, rounded, and multi-stemmed form, this shrub produces creamy white flowers against a backdrop of deep green, serrated foliage.

The flowers give way to dark, blue berries that will attract wildlife to your yard. Depending on the plant, Arrowwood's striking fall color can range from yellow, red to reddish-purple.

Many use Arrowwood for naturalization or mass planting projects but, more commonly, you'll see this simple yet elegant shrub as a shrub border or planted on its own.

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.

Arrowwood Quick Facts

Chester Thornless Blackberry Quick Facts

Zone: 2a
Zone: 3b
Height: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Spread: 3 m (10 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: full sun
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: fast
Life span: medium
Life span: short
Suckering: high
Suckering: high


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


Native to: ON, QC, NS, NB, PE
Other Names: chester blackberry, hardy blackberry