Raspberries are delicious, healthy and easy to care for. In addition, they take up little space. When choosing varieties, one should not be guided only by taste and berry size. Above all, the resistance to common diseases such as cane dieback or gray mold on the fruit is important. In this guide you will learn how and when to plant raspberries correctly.
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Interesting raspberry varieties for the home garden
Raspberries are basically divided into two groups, summer and autumn raspberries. The main harvest time for summer raspberries is between mid-June and the end of June, and for autumn raspberries between August and October, depending on the variety. If you choose your varieties cleverly, you can harvest almost continuously from July to October.
- Summer raspberries bloom and bear fruit on the biennial canes. Training is a bit more complex than with autumn raspberries.
- Autumn raspberries bloom and bear fruit on the annual shoots. The tails are simply cut off in late autumn. There is no need to separate harvested and new canes, as is the case with summer raspberries
- Twotimer, a new variety that can be harvested twice, first on the annual canes from August to October. The next year, the two-year-old canes produce berries again in summer. With this variety, pruning is very important.
Autumn raspberries are ideal for growing in the garden. Apart from the fact that you no longer have to separate the rods, pruning has other advantages every year. These varieties are largely spared from cane disease. The pathogen cannot develop in the late varieties, since “its forage plants” are simply cut away in autumn. Another very important advantage is that there are hardly any maggots in the raspberries, because by the time the young canes begin to bloom, the raspberry beetle has already completed its family planning. In regions endangered by late frost, the blossoms of the summer raspberry can freeze to death, but not those of the autumn raspberry, it blooms far too late. Autumn raspberries have one disadvantage: the taste does not come close to that of summer raspberries.
- Twotimer ‘Sugar’ – very large berries, light red and firm, easy to pick, ideal for pot cultivation and small gardens
- ‘Black Jewel’ – violet-red to blue-black berries, even the tails are grey-violet, best trained as fans
- ‘Aroma Queen’ – autumn raspberry, new variety, light red, large fruits, great raspberry aroma, long harvest window, from mid-August
- ‘Autumn Sun’ – Autumn raspberry, yellow fruits, mild, sweet taste, high yielding, very healthy variety
- ‘Meeker’ – classic summer raspberry, small, dark red fruits, very firm and aromatic, less susceptible to cane disease and root death
- ‘Preussen II’ – summer raspberry, proven variety, large, aromatic fruits from mid-June
- ‘Autumn Bliss’ – earliest autumn raspberry, ripens from the end of August, mid-range in terms of taste, very healthy growth
- ‘Frambeasy’ – Autumn raspberry, thornless canes, hardy to soil diseases, apricot colored fruits, only tasty when fully ripe
- ‘Himbo Top’ – great bright red fruit, good taste, good resistance to cane and root diseases
plant raspberries
When planting, it depends on which raspberry type and variety you have chosen and which trellis is planned. In addition, there is the right location and the right substrate. Raspberries like sun. The sunnier they are, the more and the more aromatic the fruit will ripen. Also note:
- Raspberries bear about 8 years, then the fruits become less and less
- Raspberries do not thrive in locations where raspberries have been before for at least 5 years
- For bountiful harvests, at least two different raspberry varieties should be planted, although theoretically one is enough. This increases fruit set
planting time
The best time to plant raspberries is in autumn. The ground is still warm but dry. In cool locations prone to permafrost, it is better to plant raspberries in spring. Potted canes can be planted in the ground between May and mid-September. Bare-root raspberries are only available from mid-November and should then be planted quickly.
- Best in autumn
- Bare-root raspberries from mid-November
- Container plants between May and mid-September
location
Raspberries like the sun. The more they get of this, the better they grow and thrive. Sun is important so that the fruits can develop their full aroma. A full sun location is best. If you can’t offer that in the garden, you should still try to find the sunniest spot. The more sun, the better for raspberries.
Sunny place – for sweet fruits
plant substrate
Raspberries are quite frugal when it comes to plant substrate. Deep, humus-rich and well-drained soil is ideal. However, raspberries can also adapt to poor soil. What they don’t like at all is waterlogging and soil compaction. A slightly acidic soil is better. Sandy substrates need improvement. Improvements should also be made in loamy or clayey, heavy soils. The floor can be adjusted, or the raspberry trees can also be adjusted.
- Ideally profound, humorous and permeable
- Like slightly acidic soil
- Arrange themselves with almost all garden soils
- Waterlogging doesn’t work
- Improve excavated soil with compost
- Sandy soil can also be improved with rock flour
- Raspberries like potassium. It is therefore ideal to mulch with comfrey leaves
- No compacted soils
Cultivation on slightly elevated ridges is recommended for loamy, clayey, heavy and wet soils. Before planting, work in generous amounts of humus-rich compost and composted bark mulch
manual
When planting, there are a number of things to keep in mind so that the raspberries thrive. It lays the foundation for a bountiful harvest. Since hardly any raspberries are planted individually, but usually several in a row or in a square, the planting trench should be dug first. Before you plant, the scaffolding must always be in place first. See climbing aids for raspberries!
- Dig a planting trench 80 to 100 cm wide, about 50 cm deep, even if raspberries are shallow-rooted
- improve earth
- Water the plants well before planting, whether bare-rooted or in a container
- Soak bare root raspberries in water for at least 1 hour
- Submerge container in water until no more bubbles rise
- Planting distance 40 cm, 2 to 3 rods per meter
- Only plant raspberries so deep that the root ball of the container is just covered with soil
- Bare root so that there is no more than 2 to 3 cm of soil above the root
- Press down on the earth, but don’t tread down
- Water thoroughly
- Subsequent pruning stimulates the sprouting of the raspberry, immediately if planted in spring and next year if planted in autumn.
- Cut off young canes at a height of 40 cm. Several rods will sprout from each rod during the next shoot.
- At the end, mulch the bed, preferably with a layer of leaves or bark humus, alternatively with straw or wood chips
- Be sure to mix in horn shavings, as these materials first remove nitrogen from the soil when they decompose!
- If the raspberry planting borders on a flower or perennial bed, it is advisable to line the side walls of the planting pit with a root barrier to a depth of at least 50, preferably 60 cm. Foothills spread quite a bit.
- This dam should stick out about 5 cm above the ground at the top to avoid overgrowth.
Climbing aids for raspberries
A trellis is recommended so that raspberries grow upright and do not get in each other’s way. In principle, you can use the same framework for all three raspberry types, but in different ways.
- Twice-bearing varieties – in order to keep track of things, one-year and two-year-old rods are always attached alternately to individual posts
- Autumn raspberries are planted in rows of two or three on horizontally stretched knot lattices. The shoots grow through the mesh and do not have to be untied. Alternatively, you can tie them to the normal trellis.
- Summer raspberries are traditionally grown on a simple wire frame.
Wire frame for summer raspberries
A very simple wire frame is sufficient for summer raspberries. It only serves to keep the rods upright and the hedge or planting nice and narrow. Before construction, the planting pit is dug and the soil improved. The important thing is to make sure the pit has straight lines. You can easily control this by stretching plant cords.
- Drive a post into the solid ground on the right and left of both ends of the planting strip. If the strip is longer, i.e. 5 to 6 m long, then use a stable post.
- It is best to use pointed metal shoes, they protect the wood from rotting.
- The wooden pole should be at least 180 cm high and 5 to 6 cm wide.
- Finally, the tension wires are attached, each at a height of 60, 120 and 170 cm.
- The rods are later attached to the individual wires
Knot trellis for autumn raspberries
Autumn raspberries have the advantage that all canes can be cut off close to the ground after harvest. There is no sorting of this year’s and last year’s rods here. The plants get by with a very simple trellis. You can build it in the same way as with the summer raspberries. The wires should be between 60 and 80 cm apart. Two of them are enough. This framework is suitable for the taller growing varieties.
Alternatively, a knot grid can provide support. This is mainly used for the lower autumn raspberries. Use 6 to 8 plants per m².
- For this purpose, a wide-meshed wire mesh or a climbing net is stretched over the bed on four corner posts.
- The shoots grow through the mesh and thus find support.
- As the rods grow, the braid needs to be raised a little higher.
Staff training at Twotimern
It is best to use long bamboo or plastic poles that are attached to the cross wires of a scaffold at regular intervals. The framework as with the summer raspberries is well suited. The young rods are always tied to the left stick, the two-year-old rods to the right stick. You can also switch sides as you wish.
V-shaped raspberry trellis
V-shaped raspberry trellises should always be accessible from two sides, because the fruit rods are attached to the wires. The young canes grow freely in the middle, the supporting shoots are tied. So both can develop well. The young canes have enough space and light to develop into healthy, strong fruit canes and ripening berries get more sunlight.
Set up a stake for this trellis at each end of the row of raspberries. This is provided with several, preferably three, cross braces. The distances are to be planned as for the trellises described above. The bottom cross brace is the narrowest, the top one the longest. The one in the middle is in between in size. If you now stretch wire between the cross braces, a V-trellis should result. The rods are then attached to the wire.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you also put raspberries in a planter?
Not all strains are suitable for this, but there are some. The volume of the bucket should be at least 20 liters, but more is better to ensure a good supply. With a larger capacity, the plants can stay longer in the bucket. We recommend replacing the soil every 2 to 3 years. The root ball should be reduced in size so that the raspberry remains healthy and bears plenty.
Do raspberries really need a framework?
It is better. Well-bearing raspberry canes are heavy and lean towards the ground. In addition, the canes interfere with each other when they grow wild. They take away the light from each other and this is important for the ripening of the berries. In principle, raspberries can also be used without a framework.
