Growing Raspberries

Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Raspberries

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Raspberries are relatively easy to grow and can bear fruit indefinitely with proper care. Here’s how to grow raspberries in your garden—from planting to harvest!

There are two types of raspberries, both with their own specific requirements for growing:

Summer-fruiting raspberries bear one crop per season, in summertime (often June or July).
Ever-bearing raspberries (also called fall-bearing or primocane-fruiting) bear a fall crop and can also produce fruit the following summer.

Most raspberries are summer-bearing varieties and all are self-fertile, meaning you’ll get fruit with only one variety. They’re best pollinated by bees, and will start producing fruit a year after planting.

Though raspberry bushes are naturally inclined to grow in cooler climates, the plants now come in many varieties suited to a range of planting zones.

All raspberries will need pruning annually! Raspberries are perennials, however it’s important to realize that their branches (or canes) which bear the fruit live for only two summers. During the first year, the new green cane (primocane) grows vegetatively. The cane develops a brown bark, is dormant in winter, and during the second growing season is called a floricane. The floricane produces fruit in early to mid summer and then dies. New primocanes are produced each year, so fruit production continues year after year. It’s your job to prune out those dead canes each year.

Planting

When to Plant Raspberries

Raspberry plants can be purchased as dormant, bare-root plants or as potted plants. Plant bare-root transplants in the early spring as soon as the soil can be worked. Plant potted transplants in the spring after threat of frost has passed. (See your local frost dates.)

How to Plant Raspberries

Pick a site with full sun to produce the most fruit. The plant will grow in part shade, but harvests will be meager.
Your site needs rich and well-drained soil, great air circulation, and shelter from wind. Avoid a wet area, as well as a windy spot, as raspberries do not like to stand in water nor dry out.
Prepare soil with a couple inches of compost or aged manure a couple weeks before planting. (A good rate is about 3 ½ cubic feet of compost per 100 square feet.) Till the soil well before planting.
Plant far from wild growing berries, otherwise risk the spread of pests and diseases to your garden.
Before planting, soak the roots for an hour or two.
Dig a hole that is roomy enough for the roots to spread.
Whether you’re planting bare-root or potted plants, keep the crown of the plant 1 or 2 inches above the ground.
Space red and yellow raspberry plants from 2 to 3 feet apart, in rows 8 feet apart. Space black and purple types 4 feet apart.
Depending on the variety you plant, you may need to fashion a support. A trellis or a fence are good options. If you chose to use one of these, establish them at or before time of planting so the plants are not disturbed when maturing.

Raspberries on branch

Care

How to Care for Raspberries

Mulching is important throughout the season to conserve moisture and suffocate weeds. Keep a thick layer of mulch surrounding plants at all times.
Water one inch per week from spring until after harvest. Regular watering is better than infrequent deep soaking.
The roots send up an abundant amount of shoots, called canes. Keep order by pruning away the majority of them, so that the survivors can produce lots of berries.

How to Prune Raspberries

Summer-Bearers produce berries on two year old canes while one year old canes grow right beside them. You shouldn’t have trouble telling which is which: the older canes have brown stems, and the young ones are still green. Prune only the older ones, the ones that have finished their fruitful year.

Red raspberries: Prune any time after the last harvest and before growth begins in the spring. Cut all canes that produced fruit to the ground. Thin to 6 sturdy canes per hill (per foot of row). In areas where winter injury is common, you may delay thinning the primocanes (new growth) until the following spring, when you will be able to tell which canes have survived. Before growth starts in spring, cut the canes to about 12 inches above the support. Don’t cut back more than 25% of each cane, to avoid reducing yield.
Black and purple raspberries: When primocanes are between 24 to 30 inches in height, pinch out the tip of each shoot to induce branching. This will make the fruit easier to pick and increase production. After harvest, cut down all canes that bore fruit to ground level. Before growth begins the following spring, cut back all side branches so they are 12 to 18 inches long. Select 6 canes per hill, and prune out the rest. Tie these canes to the support system.

Ever-bearing or fall-bearing raspberries

This is easy. Just cut all canes to the ground any time after harvest and before growth begins in the spring. They give fruit on canes which are in their first year of growth, after which there is no reason to keep them. Mow them to the ground or use pruning shears for a small patch.
Clean up all debris—diseases and pests overwinter.
Pruning is not required during the growing season unless you want to keep a uniform order.

Note: The above assumes you are harvesting a fall crop. To get both fall and following summer crop, do not remove the primocanes that produced the fall crop. Prune them back in spring to about 12 inches above the support, or to the last visible node that had fruit, cutting off the dead tips.

Pests/Diseases

Raspberries are one of the few fruits that are hardly bothered by pests and diseases. (Black raspberries are more susceptible to this type of damage than red or purple.)

Keep an eye out for spider mites and Japanese beetles from June through August.
Rabbits love to eat the canes in winter. A chicken wire fence will help prevent rabbit damage.
Powdery Mildew
Cane Borers

Harvest/Storage

How to Harvest and Store Raspberries

All varieties will begin to produce fruit in their second season. In some cases, ever-bearers may bear small berries in their first autumn.
In early summer, berries will ripen over a time of about 2 weeks. You will need to pick berries every couple of days.
Try to harvest berries on a sunny day, when they are dry.
Don’t tug too hard on your raspberries when picking. A ripe raspberry will leave the vine willingly.
Raspberries can be kept refrigerated for about 5 days.
If possible, don’t wash the berries after picking, unless you’re going to eat them straight away. They will grow moldy and mushy if not kept dry in storage. If you do need to wash them, let them air dry completely before storing.
If the fruit is to be made into preserves, it should be done straight off the plant.
Raspberries can be frozen. As with freezing blueberries, make a single layer of berries on a cookie sheet. When frozen, place into airtight bags.

Recommended Varieties

There are many, many raspberry varieties available today—and each one is unique! Here are a few to get you started. Ask your local garden center or cooperative extension service which raspberry varieties are best-suited for your area.

‘Canby’: red berries; summer-bearing; nearly thornless; recommended for New England, Upper Great Lakes, and Northwest
‘Heritage’: red berries; ever-bearing; recommended for the Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley
‘Plainsman’: red berries; ever-bearing; does well in higher altitudes (the Rockies and High Plains)
‘Fallgold’: yellow berries; ever-bearing; recommended for the Upper Midwest and Canada
‘Double Gold’: yellow berries tinged with peach; ever-bearing; better for warmer areas, as the fall crop can be quite late
‘Royalty’: purple berries; summer-bearing; better for warmer areas
‘Jewel’: black berries; summer-bearing; disease-resistant and great for warmer areas
‘Black Hawk’: black berries; summer-bearing; heat and drought tolerant

Tired of raspberries? Try your hand at growing blackberries or blueberries instead!

Wit & Wisdom

Raspberries are a great source of dietary fiber and Vitamin C and they may help to protect against disease. Check out Raspberries: Health Benefits to learn how healthy raspberries really are!

Recipes

Planting Times

Reader Comments

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Raspberries

Last summer I moved into a house with a large raspberry bush. This past month, the plant produced large black berries. At the same time, it also put out a number of long canes around the plant. Are these suckers that need to be pruned out or will they produce in the future?

Raspberry Growth

Most raspberries produce fruit on second-year canes (called “floricanes”) rather than first-year canes (called “primocanes”). The new canes that you see around your plant right now are primocanes, but next year they will have matured to floricanes and will produce fruit, so they should be left alone.

Raspberries

Is their a raspberry that has a stronger flavor or is there something I can feed the raspberries to improve their flavor. Year after year I have an abundant crop but with little flavor and it is very discouraging.

Raspberries

I would try another type; one which emphasizes sweeter taste;;

Patio raspberries

I bought a raspberry plant at our hardware store that was supposed to be a “patio plant” This has been planted in a good sized pot and is now growing respectably well. I know it will be a year or two before I get any berries. How do I treat this pot for the winter? Can it stay outside or do I need to get it in the garage(unheated).

caring for container raspberries

Hi, Jane. If you live in an area where winter is harsh you can move the raspberry pots to an unheated garage. Water the raspberries just enough to keep them alive. If you leave the pot outside, add mulch for protection over the winter.

Dying Raspberries

I bought a few bare root raspberries over the winter. They arrived before the final frost, so I planted them in pots and kept them indoors. After the last frost I moved them out side and transitioned them over about 10 days in to the sun light. After they sprouted I planted them.
Since they have been in the ground the leaves have all withered and fallen off. What can I do to save them? Is it possible to move them again, or would they be too fragile to survive a relocation?
Thanks,
Rachel

Transplanted Raspberries

It’s not uncommon for raspberries to lose their leaves after being transplanted—they’re just in shock from the move. Just keep them from drying out during the summer months and they should come back without issue next spring. They’ll spend this year putting down roots and getting established.

raspberries/everberring

seems the last 2 years,the roots are lifting above ground

Moving yellow berries

My neighbor is going to remove several tractor tires full of ( we think) fall gold yellow raspberries. Hundreds of plants. Can the plants be root dried and stored for the winter and if so, how?? Then planted in the spring? They are dormant at this point and need to be moved soon. Can they be replanted this late in the year? Thanks, Dave

Transplanting Raspberries in the Fall

Spring is the best time to transplant raspberries, but transplanting can also be done in the fall to a lesser degree of success, depending on your climate. Know that plants that are transplanted in the fall may take longer to become established and bear fruit. Leave as much dirt on the roots as possible to avoid shocking the plant. After transplanting, cut the canes down to a length of approximately 8 to 10 inches. You may want to put down a layer (1–2 inches) of mulch around the plants to give them some extra winter protection, too.

Your other option is to store them bare-root for the winter, though we can’t say for certain how much success you would see using this method. You will want to dig them up, brush off any dirt from the roots, and place them in a slightly moist, loose material, such as mulch or sawdust. Store them in a cool place, like a cellar, where it won’t get below freezing nor above 50°F. Try not to let them dry out completely during winter. In early spring, they can be planted outside.

If you have a large number of plants, you may wish to try both methods. Let us know how it goes!

raspberry fall transplant

I transplanted about 100 plants in mid-October and this spring they appear to have a near 100% survival. I dug them in small groups and kept as much original dirt on the plants as possible. I have about 75 more roots that I washed and put in sawdust, then shipped to the UP. They will go in the ground when it warms up, I am curious to see how they do also.

Raspberries

We just bought a hobby farm, it has a HUGE area of raspberries, I didn't get any fruit from them this summer.
How do I take care of them? Should I mow them all down and start fresh. They are probably 20 feet wide.

Why raspberries did not fruit

Is there any chance you can ask the former owner which type these are?? Read the advice about pruning above. We would not advise cutting/mowing the canes down because if they are summer bearers, they could be abundant with fruit next year (see above), and if they are ever- or fall-bearing, they may have been cut last year. We would wait until spring to see what happens.

Also read the other comments about fruiting/not fruiting below.

Planting from a container

When we moved, our friends gave us three raspberry plants in a container, and I would like to plant them on our property. Two canes have gotten leaves; one is just a stick. My questions: should I plant all three, or is the one that didn't grow leaves a lost cause? Is it okay to plant them now (August/September)? Do I prune them when they are so new and haven't had any fruit yet? And, finally, will they survive our Philadelphia snow this winter? Thanks for any insight you can provide! I'd love to make this work.

LOVIN' IT!!!!!

Just to say I found you by chance and have really enjoyed your articles and letters!!!! When I was young we had an excellent raspberry patch....and am just starting one now!!!!! I will follow all advice and post when I have something useful to say! When I was young the raspberries just took over.........am hoping mine will do the same. Please keep the advice coming ...I NEED IT!!!!!!!!

Raspberries dieing out

First time ever since I have had raspberry bushes. Seem like they all dried out for some reason. No insects whatso ever. I prunned them this spring just don't understand why this is happening. We love our raspberries.

dried out raspberry patch

Our first best guess, Gladys, is the soil. Is if sufficiently organic, composted, and rich?? See specifics above. And did the canes get sufficient water? (How much? hard to measure—maybe an inch a week.) If the soil is properly prepared it will hold moisture better than poor soil, even it you do not water and it does not rain.

You say you see no bugs o your plants…that’s good but if your canes are dried up and wilting, it could be verticillium wilt, caused by a soilborne fungus. You might have introduced the fungus into the soil with the plants… it’s possible and difficult to confirm. If that’s the case, it might be best—if possible—to start the patch elsewhere, with proper soil and disease-free stock.

Wish we had better news!

How long does a raspberry patch last

My raspberries continue to do well. I believe I have had them for 30 years. Recently I heard that most raspberry patches last only 15 -20 years. Should I be giving starts to friends who would like to start their own backyard raspberries?

giving away plants

You must be doing everything right, Neil! You could certainly thin out your raspberry patch by giving some away. Raspberries spread by runners, so lift them with plenty of root. And remember, it would take while for one to be many, so maybe give friends a few person.

How long does raspberry patch last? And how to prepaid my terri.

What is best way to prep air my soil for raspberries.

Winter die back

We bought a house in CO (elevation 7,000ft) that had neglected fruit trees and a raspberry plant. We were only able to save a few of the trees, and the raspberry died back to the ground last winter. It is sprouting many leaves, and I hope to care for it so it can produce fruit next year. Can I cover it with a mound of straw or something this winter to protect it from the severe cold? I have no idea what type it is.

Raspberry Canes

Hi Tracy,

Congratulations on your new house! It wouldn’t hurt to mound straw, mulch, or compost around the base of the plant. However, it may be going through it’s natural life cycle: Raspberry plants are biennials. Raspberry plants grow in long canes, growing during the first year and producing fruit during the second. After the two years, they die, leaving their seeded fruit or runners to continue the cycle. Your plant may be in its second year of life.

Replanting raspberries in diseased patch

I have a raspberry patch at is about 16-17 years old. It produced extremely well until a couple years ago. I'm certain that a disease has gone through the entire patch. Very few berries for second straight year. Primo canes are getting yellow leaves, then they drop off and cane seems to die. I have about 20 percent of the plant density I used to have

Just three years ago I was picking 5-6 quarts from this patch every other day during the peak. I'd like to remove everything this fall and replant with some yellow in half of the patch and red in the other half in spring next year. This is really the only spot in my yard logical for raspberries

Any suggestions? Will disease carry over on this spot?

Diseased Raspberries – Verticillium Wilt

Unfortunately, your symptoms sound like a textbook case of Verticillium wilt—a soil-borne fungal infection that causes leaf drop, stem death, and sub-par fruiting in a great number of fruits and vegetables. Sadly, nothing can be done for an infected plant, and Verticillium wilt is capable of remaining in the soil for many years, so we would recommend planting any new raspberry plants as far as possible from the diseased patch.

When you remove the infected plant, consider replacing it with Verticillium-resistant plants, like irises, lilies, carrots, beans, or lettuce. A number of other common vegetables and flowers are also resistant.

Raspberry plants dying

2 years ago I planted 6 heritage raspberry plants. The first year they seem to die, but came back in the spring, had a lot of foliage, and produced a medium sized fall crop. I cut them back to the ground during the winter and mulched with straw from the feed store. This spring I saw the straw I had on them for mulch started growing... we noticed it was full of seed pods and took it all off and weeded well. We replaced it with white wood shavings. Now the plants are 20 inches tall and look like they are dying. The lower leaves are wilting and turning brown. Any ideas what could be causing this ... We have had a wet warm spring so I don't think they became dry at any time. Any help is appreciated.

Wet 'n' Dry Challenges

Hi, Lee: Thank you for this question and your detailed description, including history. It seems as though one of two things is happening here, or perhaps both. We don’t know the condition of your canes, but your description of the leaves can indicate a disease or infestation of some sort. Assuming that you’re not noticing any insect pests, this would leave fungi and all manner of soilborne afflictions, of which there are many. Perhaps–by coincidence–your straw left something behind. More likely, though–and here’s #2–your canes simply became too wet, a condition that itself encourages fungi and that is encouraged by the wood chips, which act like a sponge. If it were us, we would do three things: (1) pull out and dispose of the wood chips, to get rid of both the sponge and any bad things in them; (2) try to find an organic fungicide that is safe for edible produce; and (3) contact your local USDA county extension service to see if they have more localized advice. We would also add a fourth–making sure that your soil drainage is OK–but your previous success with these plants would seem to indicate that this is not a problem. Just for the record, we have had two large and prolific patches at some distance from each other for decades and have never used mulch on them. Thanks again, and good luck!

Raspberries

I moved into a house that has beautiful raspberry bushes. I have to pick daily but I can't figure out how to store them other than freezing them because they get so mushy. They are wonderful straight off the plant but not that great even an hour later.

a surfeit of raspberries

Lucky you! Freeze them this way: Put a single layer on a sheet pan. Put that into the freezer. When the raspberries are frozen transfer them to an airtight container or bag and return them to the freezer until you’re ready to use them. Repeat as needed with each harvest. They may clump a bit over time but they should not get mushy until thawed but even then some will retain some shape. Frozen or fresh, you can cook them up; here are are few recipes (including one with a sauce you can make and freeze): http://www.almanac.com/search/site/raspberries

If none of these ideas catch your fancy, call us and we’ll take bushels of those berries off your hands!

Raspberry Plants

This has been terrific and helpful for me to read - so much information about the raspberries. Something that I wonder about is regarding the small size of my berries. My plants are producing raspberries that are so small, they aren't even worth eating! What do I need to do to change this?