How to Grow Raspberries

Raspberries are a particularly pleasing fruit to grow at home. Not only are they easy to grow and maintain, but they are also an economical way of getting your hands on a rather expensive supermarket fruit. The delicious red berries are so versatile in the kitchen that it would be rude not to have a few canes somewhere in your garden or allotment!

But you’re going to need to know a thing or two about when to plant raspberry canes and how to best look after your raspberry plants as they grow.

• The Differences Between Floricanes and Primocanes
• Soil Preparation
• Planting Raspberries
• When to plant raspberry canes
• When to plant potted raspberry canes
• Plant Care
• When to prune raspberries
• Other tips
• Harvesting

The Differences Between Floricanes and Primocanes

Before we get started, let’s have a quick little lesson in raspberries, shall we? There are two varieties of raspberries, floricanes and primocanes. So let’s start at the beginning with primocanes.

Primocanes are first-year canes which grow directly out of the ground from the base of the raspberry plant. They’re youthful, green, fleshy and healthy-looking, with their newest branches protruding out of the soil. You may find that primocanes produce flowers and a few raspberries late into their first season, but the real magic will begin to happen in their second.

Floricanes are raspberry canes in their second season that were previously primocanes. They’re far more stiff, brown and woody than primocanes and flower to produce fruit over the summer months. It is recommended to cut spent (2-year-old) canes each year, leaving 1-year-old canes to develop fruits next season.

Before planting your raspberries, we recommend having an awareness of both floricanes and primocanes to ensure that you’ve got a better idea of what to expect from your plants in terms of fruiting!

One of the most important steps in the process of learning how to grow raspberries is preparing your soil. Raspberries will remain in the same patch of soil for a number of years, so it’s important to invest in good soil preparation as well as a strong support system for your fruit plants. A slightly acidic soil suits them best, and if the soil is heavy, they will do better if planted on a raised bed or ridge.

Choose a sheltered, sunny area of the garden away from cold, drying winds. Although raspberries tolerate part shade, they fruit best in the sun.

Raspberries require well-drained, rich, moisture-retentive soil to thrive, so dig out a trench where the row is to be and incorporate plenty of well-rotted, organic matter like farmyard manure into the soil at the bottom. Be sure to remove all perennial weeds as you dig and, just before planting, rake in a dressing of a balanced fertiliser & compost such as growmore or blood, fish and bone to give the plants a boost this season.

Now for the growing part! Plant your raspberries in rows 1.8m (6ft) apart, each running north to south to catch maximum sunlight and supported on a system of posts and wires about 1.8m (6ft) in height. Strain wires horizontally between the posts at 60cm (2ft) intervals, starting with the first wire at about 45cm (18in) from the ground and rising to the last wire at about 1.7m (5½ft) high.

Plant your bare-root raspberry canes with the roots well spread out in each planting hole, setting the plants out 40cm (16in) apart. The uppermost roots should be no more than 5cm (2in) below the soil since deeper planting will discourage plants from producing new canes this season. Set potted canes so that the tops of the root balls will be about 2.5cm (1in) below the soil surface.

After planting, tread the soil around the roots to firm the canes in. Finish by cutting the stem growth back to approximately 25cm (10in) above soil level. Plants establish much better if they are not allowed to fruit in their first season.

When to Plant Raspberry Canes

Wondering when to plant raspberry canes? Autumn tends to be the best time to get your raspberry canes in the ground. When dormant, however, you can plant them at any time between those chillier months of November and March - so long as the ground isn’t frozen, of course!

But when are your canes best suited to be planted? After unpacking, inspect the roots and, if dry, stand the plants in a bucket of water for up to an hour (not longer) to moisten the root system thoroughly. Plant your bare-root raspberry canes as soon as possible but, if the ground is not ready or too wet, temporarily ‘heel’ the plants into a shallow trench on a spare patch of ground, covering the roots with moist soil.

Alternatively, if there’s no ground available in a decent condition, wrap the roots in damp hessian or newspaper to protect them from drying out and place the plants in a cool shed or outbuilding until the ground is ready.

When to Plant Potted Raspberry Canes

But what about when to plant raspberry canes in pots? Water your potted raspberry canes if they look dry and plant them as soon as possible. If the ground is not ready or the soil conditions are unsuitable, then stand them temporarily in a sheltered place outdoors. Check them regularly to ensure they don’t dry out.

When it comes to growing raspberries, it’s all about upkeep! However, this can vary at different times of the year.

When to Prune Raspberries

Summer-fruiting varieties carry fruit on wood produced in the previous season. Each year, immediately after you’ve picked the crop, cut the fruited canes back to the ground. Then select the healthiest and most vigorous of the young growth produced in the current season, cutting out the rest. Tie in the new canes so that they are spaced about 7.5-10cm (3-4in) apart on the wires.

You should aim to have 6-8 fruiting canes each year per raspberry ‘stool’ or plant

At the end of the winter, cut the new canes back to about 15cm (6in) above the top wire. If this is not done the tops may later snap off under the weight of fruit.

Autumn-fruiting (Primocane) varieties are pruned in exactly the same way, cutting the old canes back to soil level each year. However, since these fruit on the current season’s wood, it’s best to prune the canes in February. The strong growth made during spring and summer will carry fruit in the autumn of the same year, at the tip of each cane.

Other Tips

1. Raspberries benefit from an annual mulch of organic matter, like well-rotted manure or good quality, weed-free garden compost, to suppress weeds and conserve soil moisture. Spread it thickly every spring on the surface of the ground while the soil is still moist from winter rain.
2. Each year in the spring, at the same time as you mulch, top-dress the canes with some balanced compound fertiliser and a high potash fertiliser to help encourage fruiting.
3. If you use a hoe when weeding around your raspberry canes, be careful. Raspberries have shallow roots which can be easily damaged.
4. In dry weather, and particularly on light soils, give canes a good soaking about every two weeks.

After all your hard work growing raspberries and looking after them, the next step is arguably the most exciting - harvesting your raspberries! Our top tips? Pick your raspberries as early in the morning as possible and gently pluck them from the cane and place them into a container - we say gently because berries are very easily squashed! Raspberries tend to ripen over a couple of weeks so if they are not coming off the cane easily, chances are they just aren’t ready. When in doubt, leave the raspberry on the cane for a day or two to ensure optimal ripeness.

We’re excited about planting the seeds of plenty of gardening ideas to help get the whole family involved in your outside space! Gardening is for everyone! So let us help you and the kids blossom into green-thumbed growers as you watch your tiny, tiny seedlings reach their full potential in your very own garden. 

Whether you’re keen to create a vibrant playground for bees and butterflies with our range of flower plants or show the little ones just how rewarding it is to watch your easy-to-grow veg seeds make their way all the way from the ground to the kitchen, Mr Fothergills has got all of your gardening essentials to get you started.

If you have any further questions about how to grow raspberries or curiosities about any of our other products, don’t hesitate to contact us or take a deeper dive into our gardening blog!