Pruning Raspberries for a Bountiful Harvest: A Guide to Getting It Right

 Pruning raspberries is the most important task you can do to ensure a healthy, productive patch year after year. It might seem intimidating, but once you understand the simple rules, you can prune with confidence. The key is to know which type of raspberry you have, as the pruning method differs significantly.

Here is a guide to correctly pruning both summer-bearing and ever-bearing raspberries to guarantee a successful harvest.

Understanding Raspberry Canes

Raspberries grow on canes that have a two-year life cycle.

• Primocanes: These are the new, green canes that grow in the current year.
• Floricanes: These are the canes that grew last year. They are thicker, browner, and more woody. They will produce fruit and then die.

Pruning Summer-bearing Raspberries

Summer-bearing varieties (like 'Latham') produce one large crop in the early summer on the floricanes.

• When to Prune: Prune immediately after the summer harvest is complete.
• How to Prune:
  1. Identify the old canes (floricanes). These are the ones that just bore fruit. They often look woody and may have started to turn brown.
  2. Cut them down. Using clean pruning shears, cut the old floricanes all the way down to the ground.
  3. Leave the new canes (primocanes). These are the new, green canes that grew this year. They will produce next year's crop, so you should leave them in place. You can thin them if they are too crowded, leaving about 4-5 of the strongest canes per foot of row.

Raspberries

Pruning Ever-bearing Raspberries

Ever-bearing varieties (like 'Heritage') produce fruit on primocanes, often with a small crop in summer and a larger one in the fall. You have two pruning options, depending on your harvest goals.

• Option 1: For One Large Fall Crop (Easiest)
  • When to Prune: In late winter or early spring, before new growth begins.
  • How to Prune: Simply cut all of the raspberry canes down to the ground. This removes all the old canes that just produced fruit and encourages new growth for a single, large crop in the fall.
• Option 2: For Two Crops (Summer and Fall)
  • When to Prune: In late fall or early winter, after the last harvest.
  • How to Prune:
    1. Identify the parts of the cane that produced the fall crop (the tips of the canes).
    2. Cut only the top third of these canes.
    3. Leave the rest of the cane, which will produce a smaller summer crop. After the summer harvest, cut these canes all the way to the ground.

By following the correct pruning method for your raspberry variety, you'll ensure that the plant's energy is directed toward producing a strong and abundant harvest.