Raspberries location

[Bigmallly]

Well if Bigmallly can provide a link, it must be true!

And thanks VC. I love raspberries. It's a toss-up between an asparagus bed or raspberries. And the raspberries have just won. Yum!

If I had to choose 1 variety, it would have to be JoanJ. I'm sure many members agree.

[Snoop Puss]

Thanks, Bigmallly. I might not have much choice - could be whatever I can find here. Lots of these kinds of things aren't sold as named varieties. My heart is full of glee today at the thought of raspberries...

[veggiechicken]

Pity you don't live nearer, Snoop, I'm digging up nameless rassers constantly and binning them!

[bario1]

If I had to choose 1 variety, it would have to be JoanJ. I'm sure many members agree.

Good to hear, my Joan J are being delivered today, along with a cherry tree. Should I heel them in somewhere on the plot tonight after work, or will they be ok in their packaging in my car until the weekend?

[Scarlet]

Some will say heel them in but if it's only a day or two I'd leave them in the packaging.

[BUFFS]

Good to hear, my Joan J are being delivered today, along with a cherry tree. Should I heel them in somewhere on the plot tonight after work, or will they be ok in their packaging in my car until the weekend?

just a little off theme but my peach and nectarine are due today, snow or no snow, about one and a half inches so far, but more expected, just what I need with the trees due...

[DataMonkey]

I inherited a raspberry bed that is about 8 feet wide and 20 yards long, and it's a jungle of canes now that are spreading to places I don't want them to go.

They are also harbouring horrible things like brambles and shoots of blackthorn that are tangled up with the network of raspberry roots.

They are autumn fruiting, so they are pruned right down at the moment, but would I be best off just digging up the whole lot, clearing the ground, and then just replanting a couple of rows ?

[MagpieKnitter]

Hey Datamonkey,
I don't know what the 'right' thing to do is but if it wasn't for the fact I'm used raised beds, I'd probably have dug out anything outside of its newly designated bed, then left the rest in situ. Thin out plants so they are roughly the right distance apart (about 45cm between plants) and dig out as much of the weeds as you can before the new growth starts. Don't forget to mulch in spring. That way you don't lose a crop to them settling in again this year.
Also you shouldn't really put a plant back in where it has been dug out from as they can get replant disease, I don't know how bad it is in raspberries, but I know it can affect them. The way to get around it is to dig the bed out and replace the soil in the bed, or build a raised bed filled with fresh soil mix and a base layer of cardboard, or move them to a new spot.

[DataMonkey]

Well now I'm thinking that my raspberries are in more of a state than I thought.

Thinning out is going to be difficult, because they are a tangled mess now, and as for 45cm apart, they aren't more than 10cm apart, with brambles and other things growing in between.

Now I'm leaning towards just digging up the whole lot, especially since I don't really like raspberries anyway...

The main reason for keeping them is that once I get rid of them it will be a big expense ever replacing them, and they do make a good break in the plot where they are.

I think I'll follow your advice and tidy up the edges of the patch, then see what happens for this year. Last year I went mad (my first year) and dug up a whole bed of asparagus because I wanted a path instead, and now I wish I hadn't.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Use this year to take some runners started in 3" pots that way you will have replacement plants ready to replant the bed.