Garden And Gossip Forums

I've just got round to pruning out the old fruiting canes of my resident thug, the very definitely not thornless, blackberry.

It's roots are at one end of a, say, 12ft length of stock fence.  In previous years, at this time of year, the trailing canes can reach, say, 9ft along the fence and will continue growing enough to be trained to the end, round the post and back again.  This year I have planted a Tayberry towards the opposite end of the stock fence, with the intention of curtailing the thug a bit to enable the Tayberry to have some room on the stock fence.

I would welcome your thoughts of what the  thug might do if I chop off its wandering canes at the end around the 6ft mark.  Will the amputation, cause the ends to sprout and bush, or will it increase the fruiting spurs, or will the thug take exception and sulk , not fruiting at all?

When I see brambles that have been cut back, I don't think I have ever seen them sprouting and bushing out, they seem to stop growing and just stay there. May be produce new shoots from the base but not mush experience otherwise, except with them as weeds.