Early spring before full bud break is the right time to prune raspberries, and there is a system–one that hopefully simplifies the process so you are dining on delectable homegrown little gems this summer (and toasting my tutorial).
Raspberries are a fruit that rewards you if pruned regularly, or better yet, if pruned thoughtfully.
My favorite way to eat raspberries: fresh, tossed in a bowl to get the juices flowing, then generously dolloped over quality vanilla ice cream.
Know Your Berries
First determine the type of raspberries you have: summer-bearing or ever-bearing. Why does it matter? Prune the wrong way and you’ll have a berry-free bowl of regret come July.
To keep it simple, I’m taking my lead from Genvieve at North Coast Gardening who distilled it down so well, “just remove any canes that gave you fruit.” Though I have a couple caveats to add, that is the gist of it. Now you may be scratching your head and asking how do I make that distinction between ever-bearing and summer-bearing? Read on Grasshopper, the prune master is here to share.
The Difference Between Summer-Bearing and Ever-Bearing Raspberries.
Summer-bearing : The Tulameen raspberry cane above shows last year’s fruiting bracts (the nubbins on the branching ends) are still intact.
Ever-bearing: Fall Gold also has spent fruiting bracts, but there is a difference between the two, which is shown in the photo below.
A Tale of Two Stems (when both show spent fruiting bracts)
Summer-bearing (above photo, top cane )
- Brown stem, inside and out
- One crop
- Variety: Tulameen
- Spent cane: Last year’s fruiting cane dies after producing berries. It will send up new shoots in the same season for next year’s crop. Basically, it fruits only on the cane that sprouted the year before.
Ever-bearing (above photo, lower cane)
- Green fleshy stem inside
- Two crops
- Variety: Fall Gold
- Viable fruiting cane, year one and year two
- The ever-bearing cane with bracts will have a live green stem when cut. Each cane produces for two years, a late crop from the first year’s new green growth and an early crop the following year from the same cane, now woody.
Summer-bearing Tulameen, before pruning (and some weeding). Note the light driftwood colored canes (last year’s spent canes) and the darker wood which will produce this year’s July berries.
Summer-bearing, Tulameen, after dead wood has been pruned to the ground and removed (though tip pruning is still needed to keep canes at five feet).
Ever-bearing Fall Gold (above) produces two crops, a summer crop from last year’s cane and a late summer crop from new growth this year. Even if you cut ever-bearing raspberries to the ground in winter or spring, you will still get one crop of berries in late summer from new growth. This is not the case with summer-bearing; if you cut down every cane, you will have to wait a year to get fruit from the new growth of the prior summer.
Ever-bearing Fall Gold (shown after pruning) I tend to prune ever-bearing much more severely, leaving only the stronger, more robust canes, which (in my observation) leads to a better second raspberry crop in September. And again you can cut them all to the ground and have one big fall crop.
Let me recap for clarification. For both types, look for canes with spent or old dead flowering or fruiting bracts.
- Summer-Bearing Raspberries: remove all of the canes with dead flowering or fruiting bracts.
- Ever-Bearing Raspberries:
- TWO CROP option: For two small crops, one in July and one in September, remove the weakest, thinnest canes with dead flowering or fruiting bracts.
- ONE CROP option: For one large late summer crop, remove all canes, and the crop will come entirely from the new summer’s growth and produce berries in September through October.
- Summer and Ever-Bearing Raspberries: Prune the tip sections of both types, that is reduce the height of the cane to four or five feet. This helps create bigger berries, allows for easier picking and prevents the canes from breaking down during windstorms and heavy rains.
1. Too far from bud 2. Too sharp an angle 3. Just right
Tip pruning: (left to right)
- Cut too high: Too much stem left above the bud will cause rot.
- Sharp angle: The cutting angle is too close to the bud and angled too severely, which may cause bud die-off or weak bud support and stem breakage when fruit appears.
- Just right. This is how you do it, a moderately cut angle just above the bud
Raspberries as big as quail eggs, picked by a hand that needs a little scrubbing,
And loved by a man who has a nose for sweetness.
The End (well almost).
Here are some of my other berry posts:
Tom’s Top Ten Reasons to Grow Raspberries
Raising Canes: Tulameen a Juicy Choice!
Late Season Raspberries: Falling for Fall Gold & Caroline
Homemade Berry Sherbet Is a Sure Bet
My front porch is for company, the back porch for me. It’s my take-five spot, a compact stoop just barely big enough for a big guy and two big bulldogs. The paint-deprived rail supports an arm’s reach and everything from a cup of coffee to a cordial to a tumbler of ice tea. In the morning, I watch the robins scratch for breakfast, and the marine layer burn off. At night, I greet the Big Dipper, and ask the stars for favors and the heavens for guidance. Pond frogs interrupt, dancing headlights and barking dogs join their cause. When clear nights prevail, the Big Dipper dazzles without fail.
As fine a view as my porch provides, the vantage point just improved thanks to a new tree in the garden. Planted under the North Star and the Big Dipper, the dogwood was a gift from my friend Mary Ann, who wished to honor my father’s memory in this special way.
On our nursery field trip to find the perfect tree, we perused a neat forest of potted beauties, but nothing really struck us (except a couple of low branches). We repeated our stroll, and were set to leave empty handed when we spied a handsome specimen in a missed corner.
Gracie and Boz were quick to make another point: “Dogwood, need we remind you it’s called a DOGwood? 
