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Grow soft fruitRaspberries

A close up picture of raspberries

The fragile raspberry is far superior when eaten fresh

Plants grow as canes that reach 1.5-2m tall. Summer-fruiting types fruit on two-year-old canes in July and August. Autumn varieties develop berries in September and October on one-year-old canes.

Best varieties

Summer-fruiting

  • ‘Augusta’ (with relatively few canes, so good on a fence)
  • ‘Glen Ample’
  • ‘Glen Magna’
  • ‘Julia’
  • ‘Leo’ (late cropping)
  • ‘Malling Jewel’ (short and easy to manage)
  • ‘Tulameen’

Autumn-fruiting

  • ‘Autumn Bliss’

Getting started

Buy in bundles of six. Six canes should produce around 5kg of fruit. The canes look like dead sticks as they are cut short for easier handling.

Position in a sunny spot if you can, though they will do reasonably well in partial shade. Autumn varieties need a warm site and don’t crop well in areas where winter comes early.

Raspberries growing in the wild

Position in a sunny spot for best results

Support plants by tying them to horizontal wires 0.9m and 1.5m high supported between stout posts. Or grow them against a fence or as single plants supported by stakes. Autumn-fruiting varieties don’t usually need supporting.

Plant about 40cm apart. Allow plenty of space on either side of the row for picking.

Care

Feed in spring with a balanced fertiliser such as growmore applied at 100g per sq m, then mulch the surface with bulky organic material. Water in dry spells, especially when the fruit starts to swell.

Prune once you have picked all the fruit. Cut the old, brown canes down to the ground, and tie in the new, green canes spacing them 10cm apart. If there are too many new canes, cut out the thinnest or shortest. If they’re too tall, curve the tips over. With autumn-fruiting varieties, cut all the canes down in February or March.

Renovating

Restore a neglected patch by defining the area you want it to occupy and digging out any plants that stray beyond this – raspberries do tend to spread!

Cut down all the old canes – they will be brown and have little side branches which carried the fruit.

Check the supports, and replace if necessary.

Retain the new canes, which will have no branches and are at least partly green. Tie these into the supports. If there are gaps, fill in with some of the plants you dug out.

Replace your plants if they are over 10 years old, or are cropping poorly. Raspberries should crop well for six to ten years. After this, disease build up will start to reduce yields.

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