Raspberry supporting methods

[ldsau93]

Useful thread - just thinking about what's best for 2 5-metre rows of fruit.

Giving some consideration to the double post method using 8 ft poles - with a grapevine trailed along the top (fairly sure Month Don has done something similar on GW.

[keble]

In post No.19, there's a reminder "about the trick of only cutting canes back by 50% in the winter so they start fruiting earlier." That's in reference to autumn raspberries. I've never heard of this - does it really work? More info, please! I grow autumn bliss and cut them right down to the ground in winter. They grow very very tall with just a few berries at the tip so would love to increase yield.

Next question: Has anyone tried Geoff Hamilton's reco for raspberry support in his old book The Ornamental Kitchen Garden?He acknowledged it was difficult fitting rasperberries into a 'decorative' planting scheme but suggested a circular system with a central support. I have seen raspberries grown up a decorative obelisk in a huge pot in Grays Inn kitchen garden which looked nice in summer but I didn't get back in autumn to check how well the plants actually cropped.

I did mine in a similar way this year, growing up a birch wigwam in a huge pot but want to try them next year in the centre of the miniscule in-ground patch in my London courtyard. Because the raspberries will dominate, I'd like to attempt as decorative a support as possible, while in the end prioritising yield over looks. Thank you for any advice!

[BUFFS]

I have tied in and trimmed half of my autumn raspberries for roughly 7/8yrs and it means that they start to produce in the start of July and just as they finish the "lopped" ones begin to fruit in September,,so giving you a July to November cropping period, and if it works round here it will work anywhere, and the deeper you plant them the better, I put the crowns of my polka and Joan j about 3/4ins below soil level then they will sort out themselves how deep they want to be, and you do get a great crop doing it this way, easy to tell unfruited canes as they look fresh and fruited ones look tatty..

[keble]

Thank you for replying, Buffs. So half the canes you cut back by half and the remainder you cut down to the ground? Have I understood that correctly? And when do you do that?

[Scarlet]

That's correct Keble - I usually do mine end Jan/beginning of feb.

[BUFFS]

Thank you for replying, Buffs. So half the canes you cut back by half and the remainder you cut down to the ground? Have I understood that correctly? And when do you do that?

I trim the unfruited Stems to about 5/6ft (my retaining wires highest row is about 4ft) to tie them in and help hold them when the winter storms start, fasted wind, some years ago was over 110mph, so mine have to be tied, cutting them to height just reduces any storm damage. The other canes are cut to the ground when they lose their leaves in autumn, they are all on a 5ft north facing wall and seem to love it, being where we are they ripen slowly so the taste is something special, I now understand why Scottish raspberries are so highly rated......and we have loads of ice cream tubfuls in the big freezer...one happy boy..

[keble]

Thank you, both Buffs and Scarlet. Am definitely going to give this a try!