Q.
Hi, can you please advise how to prune my raspberry canes? I grow strawberries as well, but raspberries are a real change. Thanks, Pam.
A.
Raspberries are such great berries to grow, and there are two main types, summer fruiting varieties and then autumn fruiting varieties. Understanding which type you have is important to ensure you do not prune off the fruiting stems in error.
For summer fruiting varieties, prune canes back to fresh buds in late winter. Then, in autumn, prune all fruited canes to ground level. With summer fruiting raspberries, you will always need new canes coming on to provide you with fruit for the following year. Autumn fruiting varieties, on the other hand are much easier to prune as they always fruit on the current season's growth. Simply cut back hard in winter and remove all dead and diseased wood.
Feed both your raspberries and strawberries with Tui Strawberry Food every four weeks during the growing season.
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How do I prune my raspberry canes? Comments
Can you dispose of rhubarb leaves in your compost heap or if not how should you dispose of them
Karen Sortehaug
Louisa plum. The plum has been in the ground less than 12 months and is starting to bud. Is it too late to prune now and when is the best time to prune this plum tree. The tree is still young and I don't want to upset it. Thank you, Jim
Jim & Rosemary Horn
Hi Jim and Rosemary, what a lovely plum this is. In the first few years they require little pruning. Prune after fruiting has finished in the autumn or winter and apply fruit tree fertiliser to it in spring and autumn. Thanks, Jenna - Tui Team.
jenna
Hi Karen, yes rhubarb leaves can be composted, suggest you chop them up finely or run them through the lawn mower. Then blend into compost. The trick is to make sure the compost heaps gets really hot, it is this process that breaks down the toxins in the leaves. Thanks, Jenna - Tui Team
jenna
Hi. Is now a good time to trim summer fruiting raspberry canes? How far back do I trim them?
Bert
Hi Bert, for summer fruiting varieties you can now prune (in autumn) the canes that fruited in summer to ground level. Remove all dead and diseased wood.
Tui Team
My question is about pruning my raspberry canes. It fruited over Christmas so I thought it was a summer fruiter and trimmed the old canes but then the new canes that grew have just finished fruiting! So is it an autumn fruiter? I'm confused. Thank you.
Susan Johnson
Hi Susan, it is a summer and autumn fruiting variety. Do not prune the new canes that fruited in autumn as they will fruit next season.
Tui Team
I seem to have the summer and autumn fruiting variety too. Do I cut back the part where the fruit came or just leave it all for next year.
Bruce Allwood
Hi Bruce, cut back the brown canes to ground level when they have finished fruiting. Leave the green canes as this is your next crop of raspberries.
Hi Tui, what is the earliest I can cut down fruited canes on boysenberries. I have a jungle of fruited canes and new canes which are already about 4-5 feet in length which have nowhere to go.
carol o'shea
Hi Carol, the fruited canes can be removed at ground level to make way for the new canes. Burn or dispose of the fruited canes in the rubbish to prevent the carry-over of pests and diseases. Approximately 30cm of the foliage (leaves) from around the bottom of your canes can be removed to make way for the new canes which can also be shortened in the early part of the growing season to make them more manageable. If you have too many new (primocanes) remove the excess, you need about 10-15 primocanes per bush. The Tui Team.