How to prune summer-fruiting raspberries (2024)

FAQs

When should summer raspberries be cut back? ›

In February, cut back all the old, fruited stems to ground level. New ones will start growing in spring, which will bear fruit later in the year. In early summer, thin out any very overcrowded clumps if necessary, removing weaker stems so the remainder are about 10cm (4in) apart.

Dead raspberry canes will be white to gray in color. When dead canes are pruned, the tissue inside the stem will be tan to brown and dry. Live canes will be brown to purple in color. The tissue inside the stem will be white to greenish white and moist.

Summer raspberries grow on the canes that grew LAST year, whereas autumn raspberries grow on canes from THIS year. When it comes to pruning summer raspberries, you will cut back the old woody stems leaving the new green stems to grow. With autumn raspberries, you cut the whole plant right back.

Simply cut the canes to the ground each year in the late fall or early spring when they are dormant. Use a mower, sharp lopper, or hedge trimmer. New canes will emerge from the ground in the spring. Since the primocanes produce a full crop of fruit, there is no need to keep floricanes.

Unpruned raspberry bushes will still grow, but won't yield more berries. Leaving them unpruned also makes them more prone to disease. Raspberries bear fruit on two-year old canes, the canes that sprouted last season. Here, they look much better.

To encourage more fruit-bud development and prevent the cane tips from rooting, you should tip the primocanes of black raspberry in summer before they get too tall. When the canes reach about 30 inches long, simply cut off the top 2 to 3 inches of stem growth.

Remove all weak, diseased, and damaged canes at ground level in March or early April. Leave the most vigorous canes, those approximately 1/4 inch in diameter when measured 30 inches from the ground. After thinning, the remaining canes should be spaced about 6 inches apart.

Summer bearing raspberries bear fruit on the canes that grew last summer. Everbearing raspberries bear fruit on canes that just grew this summer. They'll also usually put out a few more berries on those same canes, early in the season.

Tip-pruning Raspberries

These big, vigorous brambles will only grow into heavy-bearing bushes if they are tip-pruned in summer by cutting off tips of the new canes when they are about head high. Pruning raspberries this way forces secondary or lateral branches to grow from nodes along the stem.

What height should a raspberry trellis be? ›

Install a single trellis wires horizontally between posts or stakes at a height of 3 to 4 feet above the ground. Raspberry canes are trained to grow vertically along the wire, parallel to the side of the trellis. Suitable for most raspberry varieties, especially summer-bearing varieties.

Bone meal is a good option to use when fertilizing raspberries every spring. It is a product made from animal bones that is ground into a powder. It is an organic fertilizer and a good source of nitrogen and phosphorus, the latter of which promotes root and flower production.

They are not difficult to grow if given the proper care. Here are the best pruning, fertilization ad watering practices for your raspberries, along with a few tips on weed, insect and disease control. Prune in fall after harvest is complete or in spring once the danger of frost has passed, but before bud swell.

Primocane-fruiting raspberry plants can produce a limited number of flowers and fruits the first year, from late summer to fall, and then produce a second, larger crop of berries from floricanes in the second year. In contrast, floricane-fruiting raspberry canes produce no fruit in the first year.

Manage your everbearing raspberries to produce one large crop each year by pruning plants in late winter (early- to mid-March) while the ground is frozen and before new growth has begun. By hand, rotary mower or other mechanical device, remove all above ground growth leaving a 1- to 2-inch stub for each cane.

During dry weather, thoroughly water raspberry plants once a week. Soak the ground to a depth of 10 to 12 inches. If possible, avoid wetting foliage and fruit to reduce the risk of disease problems.

Manage your everbearing raspberries to produce one large crop each year by pruning plants in late winter (early- to mid-March) while the ground is frozen and before new growth has begun. By hand, rotary mower or other mechanical device, remove all above ground growth leaving a 1- to 2-inch stub for each cane.

The fruits typically start ripening in late June into July with a crop that lasts about one month. Red raspberries must be picked and handled very carefully and checked for insects and rot. These berries are perfect. These bushes are lush and exploding with berries – and right on time.

The bulk of the pruning of brambles is done in the winter, but some pruning is done in the summer. Generally, blackberries and black raspberries are pruned during the growing season in a practice called tipping.