Starting your own raspberry patch

I love all fruit, but the aromatic flavor of raspberries is my absolute favorite. If you feel the same way and have a little space in your yard: Grow your own!

You’ll find all the instructions you need in the following quick guide - feel free to download it and print it out for future reference. To tell if your variety is of the everbearing type (primocane) or summer bearing (floricane), check the plant label or ask one of our plant experts while you're shopping in our greenhouses.

Lily Belisle has written a great post on how she prunes her raspberries. Read it here.

Download "Raspberry Growing Guide"

This post was written by Kat Consler.

Pruning Raspberries with Lily Belisle

Many trees, shrubs, vines and brambles benefit from annual pruning. Many plants have their own preferred way to be pruned. It can be difficult to gain confidence with a task you only get to do once a year. Plants are forgiving, and give second chances. So my suggestion is to watch a YouTube video and give it a try. Raspberries are a great place to start.

Raspberries are vigorous growers once the plants are established and you'll greatly improve your yield, disease resistance, and ease of harvest with annual pruning. There are 2 types of raspberries - ones that make fruit on second year canes (floricanes), these are your summer raspberries - and ones that make fruit on first (primocane) and second year canes (floricanes), these are your fall raspberries with a few fruits in the summer. I grow both types at my house and prefer to prune them all the same way.

You'll need hand pruners or loppers and gloves. These canes are prickly.

The goal is to remove all canes that are 2 years old (floricanes) and any damaged or weak canes. Cut cane down as close to the soil level as possible.

How do you tell which canes are floricanes? They will have branching, the bark will look dull and weathered, and when you cut them the wood will be dead.

Many of my canes were damaged by rabbits, so I cut all those down too. Any very thin canes should also be removed.

Lastly with all the remaining canes that I'm keeping I prune them down to be about 4-5' tall.

Enjoy!