Back to Info Sheets	Raspberries in the Garden        If raspberries are one of your favourite fruits, either for eating fresh or for freezing or canning, try growing your own.  Make sure you have enough room in your garden to make a planting worthwhile.  Yields average about two pints per foot of row, and as they do not all ripen at once, you should have room for at least a 3-metre row of plants.    Red raspberries can be planted either in the spring or fall.  In fact, nurseries dig their supply of plants for spring sales in the fall.  You must take great care to prepare the soil, as plantings should remain productive for 6 or more years.  A light sandy loam soil is ideal, but raspberries will grow on other soil provided the drainage is good.  Make sure the area is free of all perennials weeds.  Work compost or peat moss into the soil before planting and work it into the soil.   Raspberries are grown in rows 2 to 3 metres apart depending on the space you have.  The plants you purchase should be spaced 60 cm apart in the rows.  Set the plants at the same depth as they were grown in the nursery and do not let the roots dry out.  Firm the soil well but be careful not to break off any young growing shoots, water if the soil is dry and cut the canes back to about 5 cm at planting time.  All blossoms should be removed the first season to help the plants get established.  The first year the plants will produce many new canes which will fruit the next year.   Young plants should  be weeded carefully the first season.  Mulching in succeeding years helps to keep down weeds and conserve moisture.  Plants should be fertilized early each spring with one kg. of 6-12-12 as per directions.  Spread fertilizer evenly between the plants and for 60 cm or more on either side of the row.    Raspberry canes are biennial; that is, they complete their growth to full height one season, fruit the next season, and then die to be replaced by new shoots coming up.  Canes die after fruiting so they should be replaced by new shoots coming up.  Canes die after fruiting so they should be cut out once the harvest is complete.  Cut the canes out at ground level and put out with the garbage.  In early spring, thin the canes out, leaving strong canes about 4 to 6 inches apart and keep the row width to about 18 inches.   Vol. 97 no 26
© Murray's Garden and Horticultural Services Last updated: March 6, 2008