Raising (Raspberry) Cane in your Home Garden
By Norm Mofjeld, Anoka County Extension Master Gardener
Have you considered growing raspberries, but you aren’t sure how to get started? The key to success is to pay attention to the variety you plant, know if you have a summer or fall-bearing type, and understand its pruning requirements. The taste of fresh, homegrown raspberries will be well worth your efforts!
Raspberries come in a rainbow of colors: black, purple, red, and yellow. A fun fact is that yellow raspberries are just red raspberries that don’t produce pigment. All raspberry plants have perennial roots and crowns, and their canes (branches) live for only two summers. Fall-bearing varieties, such as everbearing red raspberries, will fruit in the late summer or fall during the first year and in the summer starting in the second year. Summer-bearing varieties will not produce fruit until the second year.
Bare root raspberries can be planted in April or May once the soil can be worked. Potted raspberries should be planted in May or June after the threat of frost has passed. Choose a planting site in full sun; the plants will grow in partial shade but will have limited production. To provide support, you should trellis your plants or grow them along a wall or fence.
Raspberries grow best in rich, well-drained soil, so prepare your site with a few inches of compost prior to planting. Always keep the plant’s crown one to two inches above the ground. Space red and yellow raspberry plants two to three feet apart, and black and purple plants four feet apart.
To keep raspberry plants healthy and productive, it is important to water, fertilize, mulch and weed. Regular watering is necessary because the root system is in the top two feet of soil. Raspberry plants need roughly an inch and a half of water per week from flowering until harvest.
Annual pruning and thinning are important, and the correct timing depends on your variety and harvest preferences. To keep the harvest manageable, trim the tips of all varieties in the spring to approximately one foot above the supports, making sure to take out any dead growth.
Summer-bearing raspberries should be thinned in the spring. Cut out unwanted suckers and remove excess first-year canes to no more than five of the sturdiest per square foot.
If you have fall-bearing raspberries and want only the fall crop, cut all canes off at the base before growth begins in the spring. Fruit will be produced on new canes in late summer or fall. To get both fall and summer crops, thin the canes as described for summer-bearing raspberries. The canes that produced the fruit should not be removed as they will produce fruit again the following summer.
Raspberries are ready to pick when their color is developed and the fruit comes off the plant easily. Unwashed raspberries will keep in the refrigerator for a few days.
These steps will reward you with productive plants and delicious raspberries for years to come! For more information, visit: Growing raspberries in the home garden | UMN Extension
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