Method for Reducing Yield of Summer-Bearing Raspberries
Pruning your summer-blooming raspberry plants is essential for keeping them thriving and productive! Here's how Monty outlines the process for summer-fruiting canes:
- Once you've picked all the ripe berries from your raspberry, loganberry, or tayberry plants, it's time to get to pruning. Pruning encourages new growth and ensures you get the most yield from your plants.
- Starting from the beginning of the row, cut out all those old, brown stems affixed to the base - they should be easy to spot as they still carry remnants of the fruit stalks. Be careful not to damage the bright green new stems.
- Next, go back through the row and thin out any overcrowded or weak new stems and remove any straying too far from the row. Ideally, the new stems should be about 8 inches apart. Lastly, tie the new stems to horizontal wire supports.
Now, let's talk about autumn-fruiting raspberries:
- Prune immediately after the final autumn harvest or in early spring before new growth starts.
- Cut all the canes down to the ground to facilitate new growth for the upcoming year.
- Thin the new canes if the planting is overcrowded, keeping them at least 4 inches apart for adequate light and air circulation.
- Use a good pair of secateurs and wear strong gloves when pruning.
- Removing old canes eliminates disease and pest issues linked to leftover stubs.
Autumn-fruiting raspberries differ from summer varieties, which only require eliminating the canes that bore fruit and keeping the new ones for the current year.
For further guidance on growing raspberries, take a look at our complete guide on raspberry cultivation. Happy gardening!
Maintaining a thriving home-and-garden lifestyle often involves tending to your raspberry plants, not just pruning summer-blooming varieties but also autumn-fruiting ones. In contrast to summer-fruiting canes that only require the removal of spent canes, autumn-fruiting raspberries entail pruning all canes down to the ground after the final harvest or in early spring.
