Should I prune my Autumn Bliss raspberries?

[Martin H]

My autumn raspberries will get cut down to the ground at some point in the next three months when they've lost all their leaves. While I know I can get a small early crop if I leave a few stems on, I want them to concentrate on the main course. I've got some summer fruiting varieties that will do a better job of producing early berries while the autumn ones are getting ready. Horses for courses.

[Two_Sheds]

I have 7 Autumn Bliss

Prune them to the ground "after fruiting". Now that is often taken to mean immediately after fruiting, but you don't have to.
I leave mine up all winter as a windbreak & shelter for hibernating ladybirds, then I prune them in late Feb, to the ground. They grow normally & produce fruit year after year, no problem

[Alison]

If you're going to grow your autumn raspberries so that they only fruit in the autumn you do indeed need to prune them all down to the ground. I usually do this in late winter / early spring but it doesn't really matter although if you do it too early (ie before the leaves fall off) then you'll be reducing the plant's energy store. When I used to only grow autumn fruits (I now have loads of summer ones too) I used to only prune down half the canes. The ones I left used to produce a summer crop and then the new ones fruited in autumn. This worked well for me but did mean lesser crops in the autumn. To be honest, autumn raspberries are a doddle, there's not much you can do that will cause a problem so don't worry about it all.