Planting raspberries next to a fence

[wbmkk]

How close to a boundary fence should I plant my raspberries ?

The variety is Polka and I'm planting them as a decorative feature / fruit supplier / wee bit of a windbreak along the end boundary of my new allotment.

Also, would it be a good idea to put some sort of plastic down, to prevent the raspberry roots popping through the boundary line and growing on the wrong side of the fence. There wouldn't be a problem, but it would mean some of MY raspberries being missed, when I come to picking. OK, the birds might like them, but I would like them more.

[Scarlet]

Well my row of 'sticks' are now easily 4ft wide and you need to be able to harvest from both sides.
I haven't got an allotment but I would check first whether you will cast shade on your neighbours plot-they may not be too happy!

I run the mower down my path to stop them popping up or dug them up for new plants. I'm not a fan of black plastic and I think they would just run passed it and pop up further along...

[chris]

I was just about to say, they'll sucker a good couple of feet either side of where you plant them. I'd plant them at least 4' from the boundary - your neighbour may not appreciate his plot becoming overrun with raspberries.

[FB.]

I've found Polka to be fairly slow-growing compared to the likes of Autumn Bliss or Fallgold.
Where my Autumn Bliss usually reach 6ft in height, my Polka alongside them only reach about 3ft - with a proportionately smaller crop due to the smaller plant. The Polka berries look quite attractive though, compared to the slightly scruffy-looking Autumn Bliss fruits.
My Autumn Bliss send out suckers all over the place, but my lower-vigour Polka don't send out many suckers.
If I were to plant ten canes of Autumn Bliss, I'd expect at least eight if not all ten to establish. But with Polka I'd be prepared to find that half of them fail to establish because of their lower vigour.

Polka appear to be less likely to get out of control, but, as said above: raspberries do like to send out random suckers under the ground which pop up a foot or two away from the mother plant.

[wbmkk]

I would check first whether you will cast shade on your neighbours plot-they may not be too happy!

Thank you for your reply

There isn't another allotment on the other side of the fence. The fence is actually the boundary fence for the whole allotment site. On the other side it is farmland, although there's a good 6 feet or so of brambles / nettles / mixed weeds etc before the actual cultivated land. There's even the odd empty bottle / tin can etc.

Regarding the fence, yesterday I removed the 8' x 4' sheets of sterling board which were previously nailed to the posts and took away the piles of rubbish which had been crammed behind. I found these boards an utter eye-sore along the end of my plot. I then dug down and fitted wire mesh, to hopefully keep any rabbits out. I went down about a foot below the fence with the mesh.

I haven't backfilled yet, so could I just add to this trench for the raspberries, which would leave them, say 12" from the fence. Obviously I'll add some compost etc to help the soil condition.

I've been thinking ... would offcuts of lino (or whatever it's called nowadays) be OK to put in the soil, to maybe retain the rasps. If I made their bed 2ft wide, surely there would be enough space there for them.


EB .. Thanks too for your answer, although I was a bit sad to learn that Polka is not that sturdy. I was going to buy Autumn Bliss, but read a few times on t'internet that Polka was far better, which is why I changed

[FB.]

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.......I was a bit sad to learn that Polka is not that sturdy. I was going to buy Autumn Bliss, but read a few times on t'internet that Polka was far better, which is why I changed

Modern growers like slow-growing varieties of all types of fruit (lots of small dwarfish plants densely packed together) so they can keep them under control and encourage them to fruit more easily. Commercial growers can then regulate the growth and cropping by altering the supply of water and nutrients.
I think Polka berries look nicer, are of higher quality and maybe a bit better flavour. It's just that the plants aren't as robust as Autumn Bliss (autumn bliss rivals the aggression of a blackberry!) so if you are to avoid losing too many of your Polka canes from transplant shock you need to take good care of them. Not too little nutrients and water but not too much either. Too much water can rot the roots, while too much fertiliser can "scorch" plants (although raspberries seem among the most tolerant of over-feeding and will tolerate the occasional half a pint of undiluted urine* at the base of each plant).

* Urine is a powerful, high-nitrogen "organic" fertiliser (about 12-2-2 NPK compared to synthetic Growmore 7-7-7 NPK but no trace nutrients, Bonemeal 5-7-5 NPK plus trace nutrients, and Fish-blood-and-bone 4-7-4 plus trace nutrients) but be sensible if you use it; don't get it anywhere near the berries and don't get it near the berries within a couple of weeks of picking the fruit. There have been cases of hepatitis A being caught from market stalls where the stall owner had urinated on their raspberries to improve the cropping!

Pic below of various fertilisers, while we're on the subject:

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[Madasafish]

I grow Polka next to a thin fence adjacent to the field. Within two years they have spread within a meter either side but the field side are eaten by cows. I have just removed all the spreading ones this week (my back!)

Slow growing? No here. But our soil is clay with lots of compost and damp -ideal for rasps. Very tasty. Late this year die to the cold spring so only 5kg from 1 row 6 meters long.

[Two_Sheds]

I've found Polka to be fairly slow-growing

... while I've found them super-fast!

They've only been in a couple of years, but are already wider & taller than my "native" raspberries (inherited, unknown autumn type, but most likely Autumn Bliss).

They do like lots of water, and they did really well last year with all that winter rain, plus I mulch them (with wet newspapers and chopped up weeds)

[FB.]

... while I've found them super-fast!

Maybe Polka are fast growers......and Autumn Bliss even faster! Autumn Bliss (and Fallgold) seem to be much more vigorous than any other raspberry that I've tried (and failed).

Alternatively, maybe there are disease problems (fungal, viral) at the supply end - in my case I think Blackmoor were the original source for my Polka.
I think Keepers were the original source for my Autumn Bliss and Fallgold.