Thorns and having too many blackberries is a very “I’m too fussy about my garden” problem

Those aren't the issue, the problem is that if you have blackberries in your garden, then the blackberries ARE your garden. Probably your lawn too. And eyeing the house hungrilly

I was recently thinking back 40 years to simpler times when any success in a garden was a novelty and a plant now deemed invasive was thought a real performer- Cough-Virginia-cough-creeper-cough- and the notion that this interesting-looking thing that just showed up on its own deserved a chance.

Mine die back completely every winter which allows for ample time to prune

Oh, we've pretty much got "rainy season" here instead of "winter", very different situation