Raspberries are very delicious berries that you can grow in the garden. Pruning raspberry bushes is important to keep the plants bearing good fruit and disease-free. The flavor of a freshly picked raspberry is hard to beat and they are fairly easy to grow, but they require annual pruning to ensure a good harvest of large, tasty berries. It doesn't take long if you know how to do it and it can make a big difference because if you don't prune the raspberry bushes they can become overcrowded and the plant can eventually die. Below you will find out how you should cut raspberries. With these care tips and instructions, your shrubs will produce more fruit!
Cutting Raspberries: Why It's Important
Raspberries that are not pruned will produce less fruit over time. They can also be more susceptible to pests and diseases, and overcrowding can weaken the plants and reduce berry yields.
Additionally, pruning raspberries can helpYour garden tidyand looks well cared for. Dead and damaged shoots are cut out, thereby removing unsightly elements from the garden image. Pruning also allows you to reduce the height of your shoots. This allows you to better control the plants and harvest your harvest more easily.
Care tips: tool for correct pruning
To carry out this gardening job you will need:
- A pair of secateurs
It is also an advantage if you have the following with you:
- A good pair of gardening gloves to protect your hands from thorns or prickly rods.
- A spade to dig up shoots that have appeared further from the base of the shoots.
When should you cut back raspberry bushes?
After the raspberries have fruited, the fruit-bearing shoots should be cut back to the ground.For summer-fruiting raspberriesThis is the case in August, but later for autumn-fruiting raspberries, as they bear fruit from late summer to November.
How you prune raspberry bushes depends on what type of raspberry plant you have planted. As already mentioned, there are different types - summer raspberries (June to August) and autumn raspberries (late summer to November), both of which require different pruning measures.
With raspberries, it is important to recognize whether the plant is on first or second year woodbears fruit. If they fruit on the first year's wood, you can cut off all the shoots to the ground each year.
Summer raspberries bear fruit in the second year. This means you need to be selective with your pruning and be careful not to cut back all the new canes as they will bear fruit next year.
Cut summer raspberries
In this guide, you'll learn step by step how to prune summer-fruiting raspberries for a bountiful harvest next year.
1. Shorten the raspberry bush
After the summer raspberries have fruited,cut any old ones, brown tails back to the ground.
2. Thin out the new ground shoots
At this stage, the current year's canes can be thinned to promote a healthier, stronger plant with larger fruits. To do this, select the best six canes from each plant and remove the rest. Tie the six best shoots into your support structure, keeping a distance of around 10 - 15 cm. They should be around 90cm high.
3. Remove the damaged shoots
At the same time, remove any damaged or weak shoots or those that can be removed, as this will help maximize light and air flow between the remaining canes. You should also remove any suckers from the plant that are more than 9 inches from the row.
Care pruning in spring:
In spring, the raspberries can be cut back to a height of about 6 inches above the top wire of the support system to eliminate frost damage.
Cutting autumn raspberries
In contrast to summer raspberries, autumn raspberries bear their fruit in the current year. This means that after fruiting, all shoots can be cut back to ground level so that they can grow again in spring. This should happen between November and February.
Cut newly planted raspberries
Summer-fruiting raspberries should be planted as bare roots in winter. Once planted, the canes need to be cut back to a bud about 25cm high. In mid-summer, when new canes have formed, cut back the canes that were shortened when planting in the ground.
Remove the runners
If your raspberry bushes have runners, you can remove them if necessary. Often the runners lead to excessive clogging between rows. If they are near the base of the shoots, it is best to remove them. Cut them off at the base near the ground.
If the runners are damaged, diseased or not strong enough, they should be discarded. However, if they are healthy, they can be uprooted and planted elsewhere in your garden. This work is best done in early spring.
