How to grow raspberries

Raspberries are easy to grow, look after, and can be enjoyed in all kinds of delicious recipes

Raspberries are a popular fruit to grow because they’re easy to look after, as well as being a wonderful treat to enjoy. This is a great project for kids and beginner gardeners who want to give fruit growing a go.

 

Preparing your support system

Raspberries are best grown against wire supports, as they’re top heavy and will easily fall or break in the wind.

Step 1:

Break up the soil in your planting area with a garden fork and turn it over well. Make sure you get all the weeds and stones up. Dig in some manure or compost into the soil.

Step 2:

Dig a shallow trench, about 20cm deep, where you’ll be planting your row of raspberries. They need to be planted 45cm to 60cm apart (18in to 24in), so try to make sure your is trench long enough to fit in the amount you want to grow.

Step 3:

Using a club hammer, hammer in a couple of 40mm to 60mm wide posts or stakes (sharpened at one end) into the ground at either end of the trench, no more than 4 metres apart. They need to be nice and secure, so setting them 45cm to 60cm (or 11/2 to 2 foot) below the ground and leaving 1.2cm to 1.8cm (4 to 6 foot) above is a good approximate guide to go by. If you are planning to grow more than one row, space the rows 1.5m (5ft) apart.

Step 4:

Screw-in vine eyes are screwed into pilot holes on the inside of the timber posts. The first row should sit 30cm (12 inches) above the ground, another row 20cm from the top of the posts and a middle row between the two. Mark the locations for the eyelets and drill the pilot holes to the depth of the eyelet’s tail.

Step 5:

Either hand-screw or use pliers to screw the eyelets into position.

Step 6:

Measure the distance between the two posts and add 12cm to this figure. Using a pair of tin snips, cut three lengths of wire to this size.

Step 7:

Thread about 6cm of the wire through the first vine eye and fold it back on itself. Twist the excess neatly and tightly a few times with a pair of pliers to secure it to the vine eye and around the wire by about 1cm. Repeat at the opposite end, keeping the wire really taught as you twist it on. Cut any excess wire off with the tin snips and repeat for the other two rows.

Planting your raspberries

Step 1:

Line the trench with compost or manure and place your raspberries into the trench 45cm to 60cm apart (18in to 24in).

Step 2:

The uppermost roots should be no more than 5cm (2in) below the soil, spread out the roots and cover with soil, firming as you go. Tread gently around the roots to get rid of air pockets and water the soil well.

Step 3:

With secateurs, prune the stems down so they are 30cm above ground level. However, summer fruiting raspberries that are supplied as long, one year old canes don't need pruning, as these will fruit that season.

Step 4:

Top the row with a thick mulch of manure.

Planting you raspberries in a container

Single raspberry plants can be grown in 38cm (15in) diameter containers of 80 per cent multipurpose compost and, to add weight for stability, 20 per cent loam-based potting compost, tying the canes to bamboo canes. Keep the compost moist and feed with a liquid general-purpose fertiliser on a monthly basis during the growing season. In hard water areas try to use harvested rainwater.

Summer fruiting vs autumn fruiting raspberries

Two types of raspberry plants are available, summer or autumn fruiting. If you are planting both make sure you separate them. Use a single fence system from summer fruiting, and a single fence system with parallel lines for autumn fruiting.

• Summer-fruiting raspberries: In early summer, pull up suckers between the rows of summer raspberries. Cut back fruited canes to ground level after harvesting in summer; do not leave old stubs. Select the strongest young canes that have grown during the current season, around six to eight per plant, and tie them in 8 –10cm (3–4in) apart along the wire supports. These will fruit for you the following summer. Remove the remaining (excess) young stems to ground level.

• Autumn-fruiting raspberries: Cut back all the old, fruited canes to ground level in February. New canes will start growing in spring. These will bear fruit for you later in the year. Reduce the number of canes slightly in summer if they are very overcrowded. Thin to around 10cm (4in) apart.