Foraging for Blackberries Without Harming Habitats

Why Blackberry Season Is Worth Waiting For

There is a fortnight in late August when the British hedgerow seems to hold its breath. The hawthorn darkens, the elderberries droop, and then the brambles finally give up their fruit — fat, dusty-purple berries that stain the fingertips and taste of warm afternoons. For many of us, blackberrying is the first taste of foraging we ever had, usually at the insistence of a grandparent armed with an ice cream tub and a walking stick for hooking down the high branches.

It is a lovely thing to do, and it is also a small act of responsibility. A hedgerow is not a larder laid on for us; it is a working habitat, a corridor for dormice and shrews, a nesting site, and a winter store cupboard for blackbirds, fieldfares and redwings. Picking well means picking thoughtfully. Do that, and you can fill a freezer bag without leaving the wildlife any poorer.

Know What You Are Picking, and When

Blackberries (Rubus fruticosus aggregate) are wonderfully unfussy about where they grow, which is precisely why they are so widespread. The best fruit is usually found on south-facing edges where the sun has done its work, and on the second-year canes rather than the soft green growth of this season. A ripe berry comes away with a gentle tug and a soft plop; if it needs a fight, it is not ready.

Timing varies enormously across the country. In Cornwall and Devon you may be picking in early August; in the Grampians you might wait until mid-September. A useful rule is to start checking after the first week of August in the south and hold off until the schools go back further north. Early in the season, the berries at the very top of the bush ripen first. Later, the lower ones catch up. Brambles also have a second flush in a mild autumn, so a walk in early October can still be worthwhile.

In the hedgerow you will also meet dewberries — trailing, bluish-black, and usually ripe a few weeks before the upright blackberries. They are excellent eating, so do not turn your nose up at them.

Leave Plenty Behind — and Know How Much Is Plenty

The single most useful habit is the one my grandmother insisted on: for every berry in your tub, leave two on the bush. It sounds generous, but it is a sensible rule of thumb. A hedgerow stripped bare in September is a hedgerow that will not feed the thrushes that arrive with the first cold snap.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 allows you to pick fruit, foliage, fungi and flowers for personal use from wild plants, but it is an offence to uproot a plant without the landowner's permission. Picking blackberries from a public footpath hedgerow is generally fine; digging up a bramble to replant in your garden is not. And whatever the law says, the spirit of it matters more.

• Take from the middle of a stand, not the edges. Birds and small mammals work the outer branches first, so leave those alone.
• Never strip a single bush. Take a handful here, a handful fifty yards on. Spread the pressure.
• Leave the highest and lowest fruit. The top berries feed the birds; the low ones feed voles, mice and foxes.
• Do not break branches to reach fruit. A snapped cane may not fruit again for two years.
• Avoid the last week of the season altogether if you can — the final berries are the ones wildlife depends on most.

Steer Clear of Roads, Spray and Dog Walks

Not every hedgerow is a good one. Busy road verges are best avoided: berries collect exhaust particulates, and the risk of stepping into traffic — or of a berry tumbling into the gutter — is real. A pleasant lane with one car an hour is fine. A dual carriageway is not. If you can smell diesel while you pick, move on.

Farmland edges deserve caution too. Fields are sprayed, and drift settles on the hedgerow fruit. Where a field has been recently treated, or where you can see the sprayer's tracks, leave that stretch. Similarly, avoid the obvious stretches where every dog in the parish does its morning business; lower berries can carry more than you would like to think about.

Other places to leave alone: nature reserves where foraging is prohibited, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, and any hedgerow that forms part of a protected woodland edge. These are the habitats we are trying to protect, not harvest. If in doubt, check with the local wildlife trust or the landowner.

Picking Well, and Looking After the Hedge

Dress for the job. Brambles are unforgiving: long sleeves, old trousers and gardening gloves will save you a great deal of cursing. A walking stick with a hooked handle is the classic tool for pulling high canes down, and a shallow tub or punnet keeps the fruit from crushing. Do not use plastic bags — the berries sweat and turn to mush within an hour.

Tread lightly. Keep to the path where one exists, and never trample the hedge base, which is where the small mammals run. Pick with your feet planted, and try not to lean your whole weight into the bush. If you find yourself pushing into the interior, you are probably taking more than you need.

Once home, eat or freeze the fruit the same day. A quick rinse, then spread on trays before bagging, and you will have blackberries in January for crumbles, cordials and the sort of jam that makes Christmas presents easy. And next summer, when the canes flower white in June, you will know exactly which hedge to walk past — and which to leave alone.