Tweet
with my raspberries.
I planted some canes the year before last - 6 summer fruiting, and 6 autumn fruiting, and to be honest they've gone a bit haywire and I've lost track of which ones are which as the plants had sprawled out in a mass of long branches.
Anyway - I decided to cut 'em back this weekend.
Originally I planted them in two neat rows, but now they are seemingly all over the place (when cutting back I pulled up some smaller shoots and then discovered the long roots under the surface and the little shoots spaced along them).
I cut back the really woody growth down to the ground, but I fear I may have done all this too early and will end up harming the plants.
Looking at my next plot neighbours bushes - they are exactly that, bushes, where as mine are (were) all these long spindly things.
Making a mental note now, that if they survive I will make a better effort to read up on how to maintain them.
Incedentally - got maybe a punnet of fruit from the whole lot this year.
I have a feeling I need to prune growing tips or something similar to get them to bush out.
I planted some canes the year before last - 6 summer fruiting, and 6 autumn fruiting, and to be honest they've gone a bit haywire and I've lost track of which ones are which as the plants had sprawled out in a mass of long branches.
Anyway - I decided to cut 'em back this weekend.
Originally I planted them in two neat rows, but now they are seemingly all over the place (when cutting back I pulled up some smaller shoots and then discovered the long roots under the surface and the little shoots spaced along them).
I cut back the really woody growth down to the ground, but I fear I may have done all this too early and will end up harming the plants.
Looking at my next plot neighbours bushes - they are exactly that, bushes, where as mine are (were) all these long spindly things.
Making a mental note now, that if they survive I will make a better effort to read up on how to maintain them.
Incedentally - got maybe a punnet of fruit from the whole lot this year.
I have a feeling I need to prune growing tips or something similar to get them to bush out.
) but I can sympathise as I get in a muddle with them too... I planted (I thought) summer fruiting at one end of a row and autumn fruiting at t'other... hmmm, well now they're a right muddle so that bit of organisation didn't work (what's new?). They shoot off all over the place (except where you'd quite like them to shoot in straight rows!) and are very good at escaping from net cages or popping up in the middle of paths... If you've cut them all back to tidy up you are a bit early for the Autumn fruiting ones (Feb recommended but probably no great harm done as they fruit on new wood yet to grow), for Summer fruiting ones (which fruit on last year's growth) I think you will have largely kiboshed next year's fruit but looking on the bright side this should serve to strengthen roots and aid multiplication. If you can resist tidying up too much until their habits become more familiar to you, they do tend to sort themselves out (i.e. the canes that can safely be removed die back and become bleached, brittle and easily removed). The best tips for raspberries that I can pass on are a) ensure the soil is kept damp and b) check regularly in the growing season as they ripen quickly and seem to go from Not Ready to Past It in the blink of an eye. If your neighbour has a variety of Raspberry Bush I want one... you sure they're not currants? - I only know the Very Troublesome Cane variety. b.
Comment