Eating Garden

How to Grow Raspberries

Rubus idaeus

A perennial berry with long-lived roots and canes that live for only one or two growing seasons.

At a glance

  • Difficulty

    Takes some care

  • Sunlight

    Full sun

  • Water

    Thirsty

  • Plant spacing

    24 to 36 in apart

More about this plant

Plant raspberries in sun and drained soil, keep the row narrow and learn which canes your variety fruits on. Remove spent canes after harvest and pick soft ripe berries often.

  • Comes back each year.
  • Can grow in raised beds, the open ground.
  • A good one to grow together with children.

Optional local dates

Planting dates where you live

The growing guide above works anywhere. This section adds local frost dates when we have them.

Optional local dates

Get planting dates for where you live

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Helpful gardening guides

When to plant

Match these relative steps to your local seasons. Where frost applies, use the last freezing night in spring and the first in fall. In frost-free climates, follow trusted local seasonal guidance.

  • Plant out 0 to 4 weeks after the start of your growing seasonPlant bare roots as soon as spring soil can be worked. Wait until frost danger passes for leafy potted plants.

What you need

  • How to start itFrom a young plant
  • How far apart24 to 36 in
    Leave 24 to 36 in between plants. View from above; drawing is not to scale.

Step by step

  1. Choose a hardy varietyPick a summer-bearing or primocane-fruiting type that suits your winter and harvest season.
  2. Prepare drained soilTest for a pH of 5.6 to 6.5 and mix finished compost through the row.
  3. Plant in early springSpace red or yellow raspberries 2 to 3 feet apart and keep crowns just above the soil.
  4. Add a trellisTie canes loosely and keep the fruiting row no wider than about 12 inches.
  5. Remove spent canesAfter summer-bearing canes fruit and die, cut them at the ground without harming new green canes.
  6. Pick soft berries oftenHarvest fruit that slips free with almost no pull and refrigerate it at once.

Common mistakes

  • Planting in wet soilStanding water invites root and crown rot. Choose drainage before adding plants.
  • Cutting every cane the same waySummer-bearing and primocane-fruiting varieties fruit on different cane ages. Know your type before pruning.
  • Letting the row spread wideA wide thicket is hard to pick and dries slowly. Keep new canes in a narrow row.

Water

Thirsty

Keep new plants and fruiting rows moist during dry weather, especially in sandy soil. Water the root zone without leaving it saturated.

  • Too dry
  • About right
  • Too wet
  • If it goes drySuffers quickly when dryBerries stay small, leaves curl and canes fade early.
  • If it stays wetRots quickly in wet groundWet soil invites crown and root rot and can cause whole canes to wilt.

Looking after it

  • FeedingAn occasional feed helpsUse a soil test and compost. Feed established plants only when the test or weak growth shows a need.
  • SupportA trellisA fence or wire trellis holds canes upright and keeps the fruiting row narrow enough to reach.
  • PruningNeeds pruningMost summer-bearing types fruit on second-year woody canes, which die after harvest and should be cut to the ground. Primocane-fruiting types also crop on first-year green canes and need a different pruning plan.
  • ThinningThin seedlings to 24 in apartCrowded seedlings stay small. Pull the weaker ones and keep the strongest.
  • MulchMulch helps hold moisture and reduce weeds, but keep the crown from staying wet.
  • PollinationBumblebees, honeybees and wild bees pollinate the flowers. Avoid spraying open blooms.

Harvest

You will know it is ready when: A ripe berry has full color, feels soft and slips from its white center with almost no pull.

Pick gently into a shallow container. In hot weather, check often because ripe fruit softens quickly.

  • Keeping itKeeps 2 to 4 daysRefrigerate berries right after picking in a lightly covered container. Use within a few days and remove any moldy fruit.

Is this right for you?

Choose a variety hardy in your winter. Full sun makes the most fruit, and good air movement helps berries dry after rain.

  • LightFull sun
  • ShadeCopes with a little shade
  • SeasonA cool season cropUsually grown in spring.
  • FrostSurvives a hard freeze
  • HeatCopes with heat

Soil

  • Soil pH5.6 to 6.5A cheap test kit from a garden centre will tell you yours.
  • Soil it likesLoam, Sandy
  • DrainageWants well drained ground
  • RichnessAverage ground is fine

Use rich, well-drained soil with finished compost mixed through the row before planting.

Test and adjust soil before planting. Avoid fresh manure and any low place where water stands.

The year at a glance

Measured from the start of your growing season, because seasons differ from garden to garden. In frost-free climates, use trusted local seasonal guidance alongside these relative steps.

  1. Plant out

    0 to 4 weeks after the start of your growing season

Questions people ask

What is the difference between primocanes and floricanes?

Primocanes are first-year green canes. Floricanes are second-year woody canes that fruit on most summer-bearing varieties and then die.

When will a new raspberry plant fruit?

Many plants begin producing about a year after planting, though variety and cane type change the timing.

Why did a fruiting cane die?

On summer-bearing raspberries, second-year canes naturally die after fruiting. Cut them at the ground.

When is a raspberry ripe?

It has full color, feels soft and slips away from the white center with almost no pull.

Also filed under: Fruits

Where this came from

Advice varies with your climate and variety. Check the sources behind each section.

Sources & review dates
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