Pruning Summer Fruiting Raspberries
How to Prune Summer Fruiting Raspberries
When should you prune your raspberry canes? Well the answer depends on whether you have summer or autumn raspberries? Summer varieties produce fruit in June, July and August and are much more vigorous than autumn varieties. They are taller, require staking and produce much more fruit than their shorter autumn counterparts.
Summer fruiting raspberries should be pruned just after they have fruited, so August is an ideal month to do this. You need to prune out only the old
stems that have fruited and keep the new stems that have grown this year. The new stems are the ones that will produce fruit next season.
So how do you tell which stems to prune out? The main way to tell is to look at the colour of the stems at the bottom of the plant. Old stems will be brown and woody. These should be cut off flush at soil level. New shoots, that should be left for next year, are softer and a spring green colour. Leave about 6-8 of the most vigorous new shoots per plant. Anything over 6-8 can be pruned out, again to the ground. These new shoots will fruit next summer. The new canes will require support.
The raspberries in the picture on the left have had the old stems pruned out in August. The picture shows the new stems that have grown this year. You can grow raspberries in large containers like these in your garden or on your patio. The canes are supported with a wigwam of bamboo canes, similar to how you would grow runner beans, then string is tied round in a circle with the raspberry canes in the middle. These raspberries have been in the pot now for three years and are still performing well.
