Why do this? The main crop of raspberries is in the fall. Option 2, the one-crop method: This method makes pruning a lot quicker and easier by cutting all of the canes now. As soon as the remaining canes bear fruit early in the summer, they can be cut out, leaving space for the new growth of canes. Also remove dead and any weak scrawny sprouts of wood.

Now thin out the canes you have left, by taking out the smallest and leaving at least six inches between canes. They are finished bearing and should be removed by cutting at ground level. Other canes show old fruit sprays all the way down. These can be left to continue fruiting this summer for the early crop, but cut off the end of the cane where fruit has already grown. Some will have fruited this year on the top foot or so of the cane. Option 1: You have a mass of canes with evidence of fruiting. There are two options for pruning ever-bearing raspberries. Some cultivars include: Amber, Autumn Bliss, Autumn Britten, Caroline, Fall Gold, Fall Red, Goldie, Heritage, Jaclyn, Redwing, and Ruby. Primocane-fruiting, or red ever-bearing, (also called fall-bearing) which include gold raspberries, are just a variation of red raspberries. Some cultivars of red summer-bearing raspberries include: Boyne, Canby, Citadel, Encore, Killarney, Latham, Liberty, Nova, Prelude, Reveille, Taylor, and Titan. Also remove any little spindly crooked sprouts these are runts that won't produce fruit.įor general maintenance of summer-bearing raspberries, prune fruited canes as soon as you finish harvesting them. Cut the thinnest canes, leaving the strongest canes spaced at least 6 inches apart. However, if there are too many canes growing close together you won't get the best quality fruit, so more pruning is required. These canes will bear fruit from the top down in their second summer. You're left with the first-year canes, which are straight and show no evidence of old flowers and fruit clusters.

Also, cleanly remove any brittle, dead wood.

Only prune to the ground canes with clusters of side branches where fruit was previously picked. To prune summer-bearing raspberry plants, look for tall canes growing in the patch. 10 Botany (Taxonomy, Nomenclature and Morphology)įloricane-fruiting types (red summer-bearing raspberries).

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