A good tip for summer rasps!!

[The Griff]

As summer raspberries fruit on last years canes whilst growing new canes for the following year it's sometimes difficult to know which ones to cut back come winter time, I have today put a red tie rap on all of the standing canes from last year that will fruit this summer, I now know to cut these back come winter without getting them confused with my new canes that I have to leave in to fruit next year.

[Bigmallly]

Or you could wait till the beginning of next year & cut the dead ones..................

[Nicos]

Thanks for that! Any tip is good for me

Unfortunately I seem to have mixed up autumn fruiting in the same bed too!....and golden ones

Colour coding is a good idea!

[kris1960]

I was intending to put a splodge of poster paint as things fruited to differentiate but ribbons would be much prettier, thank you Griff.

My inherited,very overgrown soft fruit area has one row near path which I have nettle cleared and mulched (mostly summer, I think) but there is a further 9 square metres of ancient,overgrown and unproductive bushes with canes of both types growng amongst them. I am gradually clearing it and can now walk over area. Will mark as they fruit for type, flavour and vigour,move to permanent new position and finish clearing.

Please let me know if this is the best way to do this and how/when to best move canes.

Pink, orange and black lace ribbons should look great in my fruit jungle!

[Kristen]

I cut down the canes shortly after fruiting finishes. At that time it is still easy to see the central cone-core remains where I picked the fruit, so I can cut out all canes that have carried fruit and leave the ones that haven't.

For Summer Fruiting that will remove "half" the canes, for Autumn fruiting all of them, but the same process works for both (obviously easier for a patch of Autumn-fruiting as I can just take the hedge trimmer and scythe the lot down to the ground!) so will work even if they get mixed up during planting etc.

[WendyC]

Mine come ready colour coded. Brown = dead = cut out. Green= alive= leave to grow on. However I would agree that until you are familiar with what the canes look like at the different stages, marking them is a good idea.

[Scarlet]

Autumn-fruiting as I can just take the hedge trimmer and scythe the lot down to the ground!) so will work even if they get mixed up during planting etc.

What a tip! That's a job I can pass to the OH without too much damage! He's handy with a hedge trimmer. I use my secateurs for cutting the summer fruiting ones down in feb when they are dry and brittle but I still find it hard going on my hands. I used the loppers on the Autumn ones but I do like to keep a patch uncut for a summer crop.

[roitelet]

Good tip but what do you do with remontant Rasberries???

[Kirk]

It is reasons like this that make me glad I decided to only ever put autumn fruiting ones in the ground. May not get as much but it is easier and means that difficult task of thinking is avoided.

[kris1960]

What are remontant Rasberries???

[Kristen]

They fruit twice in a season. But I have no idea what "remontant" means

[Kristen]

Hah! I looked it up. "(of a plant) blooming or producing a crop more than once a season.". So I've learnt something new today ...