Navaho Blackberry Bush

The Navaho Blackberry Bush Produces Juicy Summer Fruit Without Thorns or Need for a Trellis

Navaho Blackberry Bush produces sweet berries steps from your backdoor

• Self-supporting, upright habit reaches 4 to 6 ft. tall with no trellis required.
• Completely thornless canes make harvesting and pruning a genuinely pleasant experience.
• Sweet, juicy medium to large berries ripen in midsummer perfect for fresh eating, jams, jellies, pies, and cobblers.
• Evergreen foliage provides year-round interest, with bronze and scarlet tones emerging in late fall and winter.
• Hardy in USDA Zones 6–10 with flexible chill hour requirements; adapts to a wide range of climates.

There's something satisfying about walking up to a blackberry bush, reaching in without hesitation, and pulling off a ripe, deeply sweet berry that no grocery store can match. The Navaho Blackberry (Rubus 'Navaho') makes that experience available to just about any gardener willing to give it a sunny spot and a little annual attention. It's thornless, self-supporting, and evergreen in most climates; a low-fuss, high-reward berry bush that produces more fruit with every passing year. White flower clusters open in early spring, berries develop and ripen through midsummer, and the lush green foliage picks up warm bronze and scarlet tones as temperatures drop in fall and winter. It earns its place in the garden across all four seasons.

Rubus Navaho Blackberry plant is beloved by gardeners all over the county and can be planted in a variety of planting locations. Keep a blackberry orchard, grow as a stand-alone plant or in groups of 3, or even grow Navaho Blackberry in containers for small garden spaces or patio growing.

Why the Navaho Blackberry Is a Top Pick for Berry Gardeners

Self-Supporting and Naturally Upright: Navaho's semi-erect canes grow upward without needing a trellis to keep them in line! This is a genuine advantage over trailing blackberry varieties that require more infrastructure. A support structure can help maximize vertical space if you want it, but the plant performs well as a freestanding shrub.

Thornless From Tip to Base: Thornless canes change the entire experience of growing blackberries. Pruning, training, and harvesting all become straightforward tasks rather than something you approach with long sleeves and caution. 

Fruit That Outperforms the Store: The delicious berries are perfect for fresh eating right off the bush, preserving in jams or jellies, or used in baked goods such as pies or cobblers. They have a juicy and sweet flavor that can’t be compared to store-bought blackberries.

Year-Round Foliage Interest: The evergreen to semi-evergreen foliage stays on the plant through most of the year, and as temperatures drop in late fall and winter, the leaves pick up attractive shades of bronze and scarlet. It's an ornamental bonus that most fruit bushes don't offer, and it keeps the planting looking alive and intentional through the quieter months.

Broadly Adaptable: Navaho handles a wide chill hour range, from the 300 to 500 hours typical of Zone 10 conditions up to 800 to 900 hours in cooler climates. This makes it one of the more geographically flexible blackberry varieties available. Hardy through Zones 6 to 10, it performs reliably across a wide stretch of the country.

How to Plant and Care for Your Navaho Blackberry

It is not hard to learn how to grow Navaho Thornless Blackberry plants as they are very easy to care for!

• Full sun is required for the best berry production but partial shade can be tolerated in warmer climates to help protect against the afternoon sun.
• Blackberry bushes prefer well-draining soil that is slightly acidic and rich in nutrients.
• Grow the Navaho Blackberry in zones 6-10 across the United States. It is very cold hardy and Navaho Blackberry chill hours can vary! It is hardy down to zone 10 where chill hours range from 300-500, alternatively, it can tolerate higher chill hours up to 80o-900 hours. This plant is adaptable!
• Water consistently through the first full growing season to establish a strong root system.
• Apply our Root Boosting Slow Release Fertilizer annually to provide the steady nutrition blackberries need to push strong new canes and heavy fruit loads.

As soon as you receive your plant, you should take it out of the box and give it a good watering. Dig a hole at least double the size of the root ball. Place the blackberry root ball into the planting hole and backfill with native or amended soil like our Fruit Tree Planting Mix or Acidic Potting Soil.

Why Buy From Perfect Plants?

When you shop for blackberry shrubs online, be sure to order directly from a grower! At Perfect Plants we’ve been family-owned since 1980, growing sun-loving plants on our Florida farm. Our experts nurture each plant with care and ship them directly from our nursery to your door.

Shop our Navaho Blackberry plants for sale. Looking for something different? Take a look at all our berry bushes for sale!