RaspberryRubus idaeus

The raspberry is a plant of woodland edges: it is happy in sun or light partial shade, in moist, humus-rich, drained soil, and suffers above all in soils waterlogged in winter, where its roots rot. Give it a strip a metre wide along a fence, at the bottom of the garden or as a divider between two areas, running north-south so both faces of the hedge get the sun. Avoid spots where potatoes, tomatoes or old raspberries have grown, and hollows where cold air lingers in spring. A six-metre hedge feeds a family.

In autumn, loosen a trench 40 cm wide and 30 cm deep along the length of the row, without turning, and work in five kilos of mature compost or rotted manure per linear metre, plus a bucket of leaf mould or aged wood chippings, as the raspberry likes slightly acid woodland soils. On heavy clay, build a ridge 20 cm high along the whole row. Carefully remove couch grass and bindweed, which it will be impossible to extract later from the spreading roots. Put up the support wires before the raspberries, so as not to injure the roots later.

Buy certified virus-free plants, bare-rooted from November to March or in pots all year, rather than suckers from a neighbour, often carrying diseases that make the planting degenerate within a few years. Choose according to the harvest you want: summer-fruiting types, such as Tulameen, Glen Ample or Malling Promise, give in June-July on the previous year's canes; autumn-fruiting types, such as Heritage, Autumn Bliss or Polka, produce from August until the frosts on the current year's growth and are pruned without a second thought. A yellow variety such as Fallgold amuses children and escapes the birds. Two or three plants per metre are enough.

Plant from November to March, outside frosty spells and waterlogged soil, the best moment being November, when the soil is still warm. Soak the bare roots for an hour in a bucket of water, trim damaged roots, and plant every 40 to 50 cm in a wide hole, the roots well spread out flat, the crown 3 or 4 cm below the surface: the raspberry likes to be slightly buried, unlike the strawberry. Firm, water five litres per plant even if it is raining. Immediately cut the canes back to 25 cm above the ground to force new shoots from the base.

An untrained raspberry flops under the weight of the fruit and becomes impossible to harvest. Every 3 metres, set sturdy posts 1.80 m tall, driven in 50 cm, and stretch two galvanised wires at 60 cm and 1.20 m above the ground; for vigorous autumn-fruiting types, a third wire at 1.60 m is useful. Tie the canes to the wire as they grow with soft ties, spreading them out in a fan. Another method, the V system, stretches two pairs of wires 60 cm apart on either side of the row: the fruiting canes lean on the outside, the young shoots grow up the middle.

A raspberry lives reasonably well in a container of 40 to 50 litres, 40 cm deep, one plant per container, in a mix of two thirds potting compost and one third garden compost over careful drainage. Choose a compact autumn-fruiting type, Autumn Bliss or a dwarf balcony variety, which is cut to the ground every winter and needs no complicated support, just three stakes in a wigwam. Place the container in sun, water almost every day in summer, feed every fortnight with liquid organic fertiliser and repot every three years in March, removing surplus suckers.

Planting suckers taken from an old garden, and importing viruses and dieback with them. Planting a potted plant in high summer without watering it every day. Forgetting the support wires and trying to put them in two years later in the middle of the roots. Not cutting back at planting, which gives a few fruits in the first year but a weak stool. Letting suckers invade the lawn and the neighbouring vegetable bed, for want of an edging sunk 30 cm deep. Finally, pruning a summer-fruiting type like an autumn-fruiting one, to the ground in winter, and wondering why it gives nothing the following summer.

The raspberry has shallow roots and suffers from drought sooner than you might think, especially while the fruit swells, in June for some, in August-September for others. Water at the base ten litres per metre of row once or twice a week without rain, in the morning, without wetting the foliage or the fruit. A porous hose laid under the mulch, along the row, is the most worthwhile investment in the fruiting hedge. Never water in soil that is already sodden, and not at all in winter, except containers under cover.

Mulch the row all year round 8 to 10 cm deep with wood chippings, dead leaves, straw or dried grass clippings, topping up every autumn: this mulch keeps the soil cool, limits suckers outside the row and reproduces the woodland soil the plant prefers. Every March, spread a 3 cm layer of mature compost along the row, under the mulch, and add a handful of wood ash per metre for potash. Comfrey liquid diluted to 10 % at flowering supports the harvest. Avoid fresh manure and nitrogen fertilisers, which make soft canes and bland fruit.

On summer-fruiting types, as soon as the harvest ends in July, cut down to ground level all the canes that have fruited, recognisable by their brown, dry wood. Keep six to eight young green shoots per metre, the most vigorous, tie them in and remove the rest; they will carry next year's fruit. In February, shorten their tips to 1.60 m. On autumn-fruiting types, cut all the canes back to 5 cm above the ground between December and February for a single abundant autumn harvest; or, for two harvests, cut only the upper part that has fruited, and the lower part of the same canes fruits in June.

The raspberry beetle, whose larva is found in the June fruit: hoe around the base in winter to expose the larvae to birds, shake the flowers over a sheet in the morning to trap the adults, and prefer autumn-fruiting types, which fruit after the beetle's flight. Against Drosophila suzukii, pick every two days, leave no overripe fruit, and lay a very fine mesh net over the autumn-fruiting types in August. Cane dieback, purplish spots and wood that snaps, comes from damp and crowding: open up the row, drain, cut out and burn diseased canes. Aphids are controlled with soft soap.

February, cutting autumn-fruiting types to the ground, shortening summer-fruiting types, checking the wires. March, compost, ash, topping up the mulch, pulling up suckers outside the row. May, tying in young shoots, comfrey liquid on summer-fruiting types in flower. June-July, harvest of summer-fruiting types, watering, removal of fruited canes as soon as it ends. August-October, harvest of autumn-fruiting types, net against fruit fly, watering in drought. November, planting new plants, thick autumn mulch. December-January, pruning autumn-fruiting types in mild weather, hoeing around the base to expose larvae.

The ripe raspberry comes away by itself, leaving its white core on the cane; pick in the morning, in dry weather, into shallow punnets, every two days in high season. To spread the harvest from June to October, combine a row of summer-fruiting types and a row of autumn-fruiting types, and let the autumn types fruit twice by pruning only the upper part of the canes. A fleece laid over the autumn types in October gains two or three weeks before the frosts. Renew the planting every ten to twelve years, on a different spot, from new plants, when the fruit shrinks and the canes weaken.