Image Credit:
Pixabay
Botanical Name
Rubus spp.
Grown as
Toxicity
Sun Exposure
Water Needs
Height
Spread
Flower Color
Special Features
Resilience
Plant Type
Planting
Raspberries grow best in a sunny location, but unlike many fruits, they will also grow successfully in a partially shaded spot. However, the more sun, the more fruit!
The planting site should have rich and well-draining soil, great air circulation, and shelter from the wind. Avoid a wet and windy area, as raspberries do not like to stand in water or totally dry out.
Every year, feed your raspberry plants with a couple of inches of compost or aged manure; dig it into the soil a couple of weeks before planting. (A good ratio is about 3½ cubic feet of compost per 100 square feet.)
Plant your berries far from wild-growing berries; otherwise, you risk spreading wild pests and diseases to your cultivated berry plants.
When to Plant Raspberries
- Start with 1-year-old raspberry canes from a reputable nursery. Plant in early spring once the ground thaws out and can be worked (see your local frost dates).
- In mild areas, you could also plant in late autumn to give the plants a head start.
- Plant potted transplants in the spring after the threat of frost has passed.
How to Plant Raspberries
- Before planting, soak the roots for an hour or two.
- Dig a hole that is roomy enough for the roots to spread. If you’re planting multiple bushes, it’s easiest to dig a trench.
- Whether you’re planting bare-root or potted plants, keep the crown of the plant 1 or 2 inches above the ground.
- Canes should be spaced 18 inches apart, with about 4 feet between rows.
- Fill the soil back in, and tamp it down with your foot.
- Once the canes are planted, cut them down to 9 inches tall to encourage new growth. (Yes, it will look like a broken branch sticking out of the ground!)
- Depending on your plant variety, you may need to fashion a support to hold up the canes, as many grow to head height. A trellis or a fence are good options. If you have a row, drive in two 6-foot posts at the end of the row and stretch galvanized wire between the posts. Summer-fruiting raspberries need three horizontal wires, and the fall types could do with two wires.
Check out this video to learn how to plant raspberries.
Growing
- Mulching is important throughout the season to conserve moisture and suffocate weeds. Keep a thick layer of mulch surrounding plants at all times.
- Water 1 inch per week from spring until after harvest. Regular watering is better than infrequent deep soaking.
- Keep your raspberry bushes tidy by digging up any “suckers” or canes that grow well away from the rows; if you don’t dig them up, they’ll draw nutrients away, and you’ll have fewer berries next year.
- If you wish, you can replant the suckers, and you’ll have new plants! Dig them up, set them in a fresh area of prepared ground, and water them after planting.
How to Prune Raspberries
Prune summer-fruiting raspberries immediately after you’re done picking! Cut only the canes that produced berries back down to the ground.
(Remember, this plant produces berries on 2-year-old canes while 1-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.)
Tie the remaining canes to the supporting wires with garden string. There should not be any more than one cane every four inches of wire, so cut down additional canes.
Ever-bearing or fall-bearing raspberries
- This is easy. Just cut all canes back to the ground in late winter before growth begins in the spring. They give fruit on canes that 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 only required during the growing season if you want to keep uniform order. Dig or pull up new canes that grow well away from the rows. If your raspberry canes are disease-free, you can transplant them to raise more plants.
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.
Harvesting
- 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 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.
- Gently pull raspberries away from their central plug once they’re richly colored all over. They should come away easily. Don’t tug too hard on your raspberries when picking. A ripe raspberry will leave the vine willingly.
How to Store Raspberries
- Raspberries won’t keep for long, so enjoy them soon after picking them!
- They can be kept refrigerated for about 5 days. 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 them.
- Raspberries can be frozen! As with freezing blueberries, make a single layer of berries on a cookie sheet. When frozen, place into airtight bags. Use on waffles, in cereal, or whenever you need a refreshing, healthy snack!
Types
There are many, many raspberry varieties available today—and each one is unique! Ask your local garden center or cooperative extension service which raspberry varieties are best suited for your area. Here are a few to get you started:
- ‘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; great for warmer areas
- ‘Black Hawk’: black berries; summer-bearing; heat- and drought-tolerant
Tired of raspberries? Try your hand at growing blackberries, blueberries, or strawberries instead!
Comments
I bought two Wilmettes from a big box store. I generally don't buy fruit plants but I love raspberries and figured "Why not?!" Thank you for such an informative post. I feel more encouraged and informed.
A big hello all the way from Kenya! I am planting my raspberries in a greenhouse since space is limited and I need to be sure that watering happens when it is supposed to.
Question. What is the output per kg per plant/month/year?
I had previously planted Chandler variety of strawberries, which turned out to be quite stressful. Are the pests the same? Snails :( spider mites etc or are raspberries different?
Thank you!
Hi Anne,
I'm also a raspberry farmer in Kenya and was doing strawberries earlier! Maybe we can exchange some ideas?
The pests are different. You say snails but here in northeast Ohio we have their homeless cousins...slugs. I've had raspberries for years and the slugs don't bother them too much but they loved my strawberries. Raspberries seem to attract ants around here. The birds don't bother them too much because a nearby mulberry tree gets ripe just before my raspberries do. Ocassionally I'll have to chase a robin out of the berries but not often.
For you my biggest concern would be the limited space. You'll have to stay on top of things because they love to spread. I planted a few black and red raspberries and before I knew it I had a berry patch half the size of my house.
As far as production I can't answer you there. My berries start getting ripe in June and continue for about a month (maybe). I've never tried to estimate the amount. I don't eat them (or strawberries) I just grow them for my wife. Good luck!
Last year I tried netting over the bushes but birds still got in. It was hard to pick the berries. What else can I do?
In another comment I mentioned to Anne that I don't have a problem with birds because a nearby mulberry tree gets ripe about a week or two before my berries do. The birds just flock to that tree and only rarely do I see a robin in my berry patch. So....you may want to invest in a mulberry tree and hope it produces soon. Or maybe a birdfeeder to attract them to it instead of the berries.
Those are just some thoughts but I think one thing that really does help is picking berries often. I try to get to them early in the morning before the birds do and then I may do a light picking again in the evening. They're like us, they want a ripe berry and tend to leave the unripe ones alone.
Birds are highly intelligent problem solvers. If they want something bad enough, they will do whatever they can to get to it. However, wind-chimes, especially the reflective kind, disturb them, cats also disturb them. And I'm thinking these garden decorative balls that are highly reflective will also disturb them. (Because if they see movement, but don't recognize what it is, it will trigger their flight response.) Also, putting feeders strategically away from crops will attract more birds to your property, and more birds will draw in more birds of prey. But if you put this activity outside line of site of the crops you want to contract, and more on a street, or barren driveway, and so on, they will feast on bugs exposed on pavement, and the seed from your feeders. A lot of bird-species seems to be territorial even if they aren't birds of prey, and so if you attract birds that really love specific seeds, they'll end up fighting for roosting space with black birds like crows that will eat everything they possibly can. Ideally you combine these strategies, if you can afford them all, because then you're making some feeding opportunities riskier than others, and birds will quite happily be gluttons for the easier meal. (Between the cats I have, and the wild berry and muskdine vines growing in my treeline/hedge acreage, they don't bother with the more groomed crops I care more about. They seem to prefer wild-growth, and I don't blame them because some of muskydine vines shoot all the way up to the canopy of trees, and blackberry vines grow as large and tall as hedges, if left to grow wild. If you work against nature, fighting it will be a full-time job, but if you sacrifice a little property in order to roll with it, you can still generate a good harvest. So, the real key is understanding the wildlife around you. (whatever that may be)
I have a long row of an old, red, thornless variety of raspberry. My neighbor is bringing me 20 golden raspberry plants, and I was planning on placing them in a long row beside the red, 6 feet apart. Am I going to end up with some ugly pink or orange berry due to cross pollination, or am I okay doing this?
Hi, Sara: This really depends on a number of factors, including the exact types of raspberries that you will start with. It sounds to us like there will be some inevitable cross-pollination, but what results may not be bad and all, and also may be varied. Good luck!
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Your raspberries will probably benefit from the coffee grounds as well, as the grounds add nitrogen to the soil and are a natural fertilizer. You don't need to do it, but feel free to give it a shot! It can't hurt.