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Free lessonFruit in a small garden · lesson 4 of 10

Raspberries

Summer or autumn varieties, planting and supports, pruning each kind, and common problems.

Key points

Two kindsSummer: fruit on last year's canes, 1.8 m, wire fence. Autumn: fruit on this year's canes, 1.2–1.5 m, little support.
PlantingBare-root November to March; slightly acid, well-drained soil; 40–60 cm apart; roots no more than 5 cm down.
SupportsPosts 1.8 m tall with three wires 60 cm apart (summer kinds).
PruningSummer kinds: cut fruited canes to the ground after picking, keep 6–8 new canes 10 cm apart. Autumn kinds: cut all canes to the ground in February.
ProblemsNet against birds; raspberry beetle grubs; cane blight; viruses: replant with certified stock elsewhere.

Summary

Summer-fruitingAutumn-fruiting
Fruits onLast year's canesThis year's canes
HeightAbout 1.8 m1.2–1.5 m
SupportPosts and three wiresLittle needed
PruneFruited canes after pickingAll canes in February

Quick check

When do you prune autumn-fruiting raspberries?
  1. In summer, straight after the first flowers open
  2. In autumn, removing only the new green canes
  3. In February, cutting every cane to the ground
  4. Never: they don't need pruning
Answer: C. New canes grow and fruit the same year.
After summer raspberries finish cropping, what do you cut out?
  1. The old canes that fruited
  2. All the new green canes
  3. Every other cane, old or new
  4. The top third of every cane
Answer: A. The new canes carry next year's crop.
Which soil do raspberries dislike most?
  1. Fertile, well-drained soil
  2. Shallow chalk or waterlogged ground
  3. Slightly acid loam
  4. Soil mulched with compost
Answer: B. They need moist but free-draining, slightly acid soil.

In your garden

  • Check which kind of raspberry you have, or want.
  • Mark a row 40–60 cm per cane in a sunny spot.
  • If you grow autumn raspberries, put February's cut in your diary.

Video transcript

Raspberries give heavy crops from a small space, and they freeze well. In this lesson: summer or autumn varieties, planting and supports, and the pruning that keeps them cropping.

Summer-fruiting raspberries crop in early to late summer, on canes that grew the year before, and reach about one point eight metres, so they need a post and wire fence. Autumn-fruiting raspberries crop from late summer into autumn, on canes grown the same year. They're shorter, about one point two to one point five metres, and need little support.

Plant bare-root canes between November and March, in fertile, well-drained soil that's slightly acid; raspberries hate chalk and waterlogging. Space canes forty to sixty centimetres apart, with the first roots no more than five centimetres below the surface. For summer raspberries, put up posts one point eight metres tall, with three wires at sixty centimetre intervals. Mulch with organic matter in late winter.

Pruning is simple once you know which kind you have. After summer raspberries finish cropping, cut all the old, fruited canes down to the ground. Keep six to eight strong new canes per plant, about ten centimetres apart, and tie them to the wires. Autumn raspberries are even easier: in February, cut every cane down to the ground, and new ones grow and fruit the same year.

Cover the canes with netting as the fruit ripens, or birds will strip them. Small grubs in the fruit are raspberry beetle. Cane blight makes canes wilt and die back; cut affected canes out at ground level. Stunted, mottled plants may have a virus, so dig them up, and start again with certified virus-free canes in a new spot.

This is one of 10 lessons in Fruit in a small garden

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