Planting and maintaining raspberries in 12 simple steps

Using a shovel, dig a planting hole large enough to fully accommodate the root ball of the raspberry plant. It is important that your planting hole is about twice as deep and twice as wide as the root ball. This gives you enough space to properly position your raspberry plant. Collect the soil in a small bucket, as we will mix it with some nutrients for your plant.

First, add some organic fertilizer or compost to the excavated soil. Now, apply a layer of improved soil to your planting hole and check if your root ball is at the desired depth. The level of the top of the root ball should be flush with the ground level. Carefully remove the raspberry plant from the pot or container in which it was delivered and place your plant in the planting hole.

Fill in the sides with the improved soil as well and press down firmly to avoid air pockets in your soil. It is important that the roots of your root ball make good contact with the soil so that they can continue to root well.

Mix compost or organic fertilizer into the soil around the plants to promote growth. Follow the instructions on the fertilizer packaging.

It is important that you fertilize your raspberry plant every 3 months during the growing season (March to October). This will give you delicious, juicy raspberries that have a better shelf life after harvesting. Apply about 100 grams of fertilizer pellets per square meter. Water thoroughly after each feeding so that the fertilizer is gradually released to your raspberry plant.

The canes of your raspberries can grow quite long. They are susceptible to gusts of wind in the spring and autumn, which is why it is important to support your plants properly. Place posts with wire along your raspberries to guide the plants upwards and prevent them from hanging on the ground. Place a ground anchor and connect your post to it with an anchor cable for extra stability. Tighten your wires with a Gripple. This way, your raspberries are securely fastened and will not be bothered by the wind. Do you not have much space in your garden? Then you can use a trellis, as I do in my garden. You can easily attach the raspberries to a wire or support trellis using a tying tool or tying tube.

Apply a layer of mulch around the raspberries to retain moisture, suppress weeds, and regulate soil temperature.

Prune the raspberry plants as recommended for the specific variety (summer or autumn raspberries). Remove diseased or dead canes and thin out the plants to promote air circulation.

Prune summer raspberries immediately after you have picked all the raspberries. Prune only the canes that produced berries back to the ground.

(Remember that this plant produces fruit on one-year-old canes, while the new canes grow beside them. It is not difficult to see which is which: the older canes have brown stems and the young ones are still green. Prune only the older canes, the canes that have finished their productive year. You can also see the remains of the small fruits hanging on these canes).

Tie the remaining canes to the support wires using tying tube or a tying tool.

There are 2 ways to prune autumn raspberries.

Either you prune all canes back to the ground in November, so that growth can start again in the spring.

Or you tip the canes that produced fruit this year at approximately 75 cm above the ground. This way, the remaining dormant buds will bloom again in the spring of the following year and give you a second (early) harvest. In early autumn, you prune away the canes that have already produced fruit for 2 years completely. This allows you to harvest twice from your autumn raspberry.

Want to delve deeper into this? Then read our complete guide on pruning and maintaining raspberries.

Raspberries fresh from the plant, blissful!

When the raspberries are ripe, pick them carefully to avoid damaging the fruit. Ripe raspberries have a deep color and detach easily from the plant.

The raspberry beetle is a small beetle that can cause damage to flowers and fruit. The adult beetles feed on flower buds and petals, while the larvae can later develop inside the raspberries.

Check your plants regularly and remove affected or damaged fruit. Harvest ripe raspberries in a timely manner and do not leave overripe or fallen fruit under the plants.

Aphids are mainly found on young shoots and the undersides of leaves. They suck plant sap, which can cause leaves to curl or young shoots to grow less well.

A small infestation is usually not a major problem. You can remove aphids with a strong stream of water. Ladybirds, lacewings, and other natural enemies also help to keep the population under control.

In damp weather, raspberries can suffer from fruit rot, often caused by fungi such as Botrytis. The fruits become soft and can become covered in a grey fungal layer.

Therefore, ensure sufficient air circulation between the plants and prune away excess shoots. Pick ripe fruit regularly and remove moldy or damaged raspberries immediately.

When shoots suddenly become limp, discolored, or die, it may be a case of wilt disease or root infection. Prolonged wet soil in particular increases the risk of problems.

Therefore, plant raspberries in well-drained soil and prevent the roots from remaining wet for long periods. Remove severely affected shoots and keep pruning tools clean to limit further spread.