Prune summer-fruiting raspberries
Summer-fruiting raspberries carry their fruit on the canes that grew the previous summer – all the fresh growth made this year will crop next June – so these should be pruned now.
It is a job to do in stages. First, the brown canes that bore this summer’s fruit can be cut down to the ground, leaving the fresh, new, green canes standing. These will carry next summer’s crop. Then reduce the canes from each plant to a maximum of five strong, straight growths, cutting any others to ground level.
Finally, the canes that remain need holding secure for the coming year and therefore summer raspberries – unlike autumn types, which merely need temporary support of canes and string, much like broad beans – are best grown against a permanent system of support. A wall, a fence with wires or a trellis will do, although I think a freestanding line of at least two wires held up by strong posts is better, as it enables you to pick on both sides and keeps the fruit well ventilated.
I tie the canes to the wires with twine, making sure that they are really secure, as winter winds can catch and damage them. The end result will look beautifully neat and trained, and they then need no more attention other than a generous mulch – along with the autumn-fruiting varieties – in the spring.
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