Growing raspberries - tips for how to grow your own raspberry crop

Growing raspberries is extremely simple and very satisfying. These delicious berries take up very little room in the garden and produce a heavy crop for the amount of space they occupy. 

Growing raspberries of several different varieties, including Red Fall and Gold Fall, you can extend the fruiting season of raspberries from early summer right into winter.

Make sure you obtain your raspberry plants from a reputable and reliable dealer. By choosing new, disease resistant, modern varieties growing your own raspberries is virtually trouble free and very worthwhile.

Prepare the ground where you are going to be growing your raspberry crop by thoroughly digging over the soil, removing all weeds and adding plenty of garden compost or rotted manure.

Plant out the summer fruiting raspberry canes between November and March allowing about 15 inches between raspberry plants and 30 inches between rows. Raspberry plants appreciate a light dressing of organic fertilizer such as bone or seaweed meal applied to the soil after planting.   

After planting cut the canes of your summer fruiting raspberry plants to within 3-4 inches of the ground. This encourages the growing raspberries to produce several new canes, and as they produce fruit on the previous year’s canes, it will be 15-18 months before there is any fruit. 

Autumn/fall fruiting raspberry canes produce fruit on new wood so it's best to get them planted in the fall or early winter. Cut the old canes down at planting time or in late winter. This encourages new canes to grow that will fruit in late summer through to early winter. 

Raspberry plants suffer from two troublesome pests, the raspberry beetle and birds. The raspberry beetle lays its eggs in the growing raspberries flowers and the grubs feed on the developing fruit. It can be controlled with an organic insecticide. Choose an environmentally friendly one that doesn’t harm bees or other beneficial insects. 

Birds are best controlled with netting or by growing the crop in a fruit cage.

 After fruiting, the old canes should be cut back and any new canes tied in an upright position to horizontal galvanized wire fastened to stout 5ft stakes placed at 5ft intervals along the rows. These new raspberry canes will fruit the following year.

The exception to this are autumn fruiting varieties  The old canes are cut down in winter and new canes appear during spring. These are tied onto their supports and will fruit from late summer into winter.  

Raspberry plants will fruit quite happily for many years without having to be replaced provided the soil is well prepared before planting. They also benefit from a mulch of garden compost or rotted manure every June, which will help feed the plants and retain moisture in the soil. 

Growing raspberry plants need plenty of moisture otherwise the fruit will be small and seedy, so make sure you keep your raspberries well watered in dry conditions. Use a hose rather than a sprinkler as a hose delivers water straight to the roots where it is needed and is more environmentally friendly than a sprinkler.

When harvesting your raspberry crop make sure the fruit is dry and not over ripe. Damp berries go mouldy very quickly and over ripe raspberries soon go squashy and spoil.

Sun warmed raspberries straight from the bush need very little enhancment, a sprinkling of sugar maybe, but I think they are delicious on their own. And they are certainly one of the joys of summer.