RASPBERRIES

Raspberries can be planted in single rows or in beds of closer-spaced double rows. For single rows, space plants 2-3 feet apart within the row.  If you want a denser planting, grow beds of double rows, with 3 feet between each plant in the row and 12 inches between the two rows in each bed.  Offset the plants in adjacent rows so that each double row has a plant about every 18 inches in a zigzag pattern.  Leave at least a 5-foot-wide walkway between the beds or single rows. Rototill or work up the soil deeply in a strip 1-2 feet wide on either side of the row. Use a heavy mulch to control weeds within the bed or row, but do not mulch between the rows or beds, since this will encourage the unwanted expansion of your raspberry patch into your walkways.

Raspberries will grow in a wide variety of soils but do best in rich well-drained loam with a pH of about 5.5-6.5.  Soils rich in organic matter are highly desirable. An annual mulch of manure, leaves, compost or even sawdust to the area around the plants in the row or bed, (but not to the area in between, which should be tilled every so often to discourage suckering,) will encourage heavy fruit production.  The mulch should be applied as a 6 to 8 inch layer on top, not worked in to the soil.  Such a mulch can help retain soil moisture and suppress weeds.

The most common mistake with raspberries is planting them too deeply. Raspberries are woody perennials that send up shoots from the ground every year...when a rooted cutting is made, the cane is cut off and discarded. The remainder of this cane, attached to the cutting, may die back or sprout new leaves, but the root crown is the part that will give rise to the new plant, and this is the portion that must have access to light in order to grow. (See photo below.)

All raspberries attempt to make two crops per year...a Summer crop and a Fall crop. Usually either one or the other is dominant. The Fall crop is made on 1-year-old canes called primocanes.  These are the new canes which begin growth in the Spring, flower in late Summer, and fruit in the Fall.  Since Fall-bearing varieties yield their main crop on primocanes, these canes can be mowed down each season after their fruit has been harvested. The root will send up a fresh batch of primocanes in even greater abundance next year. In short-season growing areas,  Fall-bearing cultivars must ripen their crop early enough so to avoid the inevitable frosts of late Sept. and Ocober. Only the earliest Fall bearers, such as Redwing and Autumn Bliss, are suitable for a Fall crop in Zones 3 and 4.

If you are planting Summer berries, there will be no main crop the first year. The  Summer crop is produced on 2-year-old canes (primocanes which have come through the winter,)  which flower and fruit from late June through early August. Since the Summer crop is borne on 2-year-old canes, a cultivar chosen for its Summer crop must be even hardier than the Fall-bearing types, so that the primocanes will come through the winter without damage. With a Summer crop, (after the first year,) you will always have two kinds of canes in your raspberry patch, primocanes and 2-year canes. After the 2-year canes fruit, they die and should be removed, either that Fall or the following Spring before growth recommences. An alternative to hand-pruning is to mow half the patch one year, the other half the next. This ensures that half your planting will have 2 year canes each year.  Whether you are growing raspberries for a Fall or Summer crop, the patch will continue to spread underground and send up new primocanes each year as the roots system expands.

Once planted, water throughout the spring and early summer during the first year.  In subsequent years, provide water from fruit set until the end of the ripening period. Mulch well at least twice yearly.