Pruning

Black and purple raspberries usually are not trellised. When the primocanes get 18 to 24 inches long generally during May or June prune off the tip of each cane. This forces 3 to 7 buds nearest the severed tip to start growth, and eventually they form laterals 3 to 7 feet long. The following winter prune back the laterals to about 8 inches from each main cane. All buds on the laterals and main canes are potential fruit buds.

If you live in a snow belt, prune black and purple raspberries in early November before heavy snows. Melting snows in early spring may damage unpruned laterals in areas where snow is 3 to 7 feet deep.

You prune red raspberry quite differently from black and purple raspberry. Tips of the primocanes are not pruned the first year. Red raspberries may be grown without a trellis, but a better crop will be obtained with less damage from fungus diseases if the raspberries are confined to a row 6 to 9 inches wide. The canes are secured to a vertical trellis with the bottom wire at 36 inches and the top wire at 60.

Red raspberry normally is pruned in late winter. Remove old fruiting canes and new canes which are damaged or weak. Leave only 2 to 4 robust canes, preferably 2 canes per foot of row. Tie these canes securely to each wire.

Sometimes red raspberry is grown in a hedgerow 18 to 24 inches wide. A horizontal trellis may be used with wires 36 to 42 inches above the ground. Frequently a trellis is not used and the fruiting canes are pruned to a height of 36 to 42 inches so they stand upright when loaded with fruit. This is a cheap and simple system but the plants are subject to fungus diseases.

Boysenberry, dewberry, thornless blackberry and young berry are usually trellised. Fruiting canes are separately wrapped around the wire and tied along the bottom and/or top wire of the trellis. Allow new canes to grow along the row on the ground during the first year. Remove old canes after fruiting.

Currants and gooseberries are perennial bushes. Usually you remove canes or branches after the fourth year. A mature bush might consist of 12 to 15 branches under 4 years of age. You usually prune currants and gooseberries in early spring before growth starts.

All these berries may be grown under clean cultivating, sod, or a permanent mulch. The author prefers either clean cultivating or the mulch. The average homeowner has many organic residues around the home such as lawn clippings, leaves, or shredded vegetation. A raspberry planting is an ideal place to use these materials.

If you grow raspberries under clean cultivation, the area between rows is cultivated to a depth of 1 to 2 inches at intervals of 2 weeks from early spring to end of the harvest season. This controls weeds and raspberry suckers in the row. If you use sod culture, mow the area between the row like a lawn throughout summer to control growth of weeds. grasses and suckers. Where a permanent mulch is used, mow at timely intervals to control raspberry suckers between the rows.

Highest yields will be obtained with permanent mulch. Clean cultivation is the next highest in yield. Sod usually results in the lowest yield, but in some cases is the easiest system for a homeowner to maintain.

Two Cautions

A key to cane fruit is a weed-free planting given tender loving care the first half of the season and then somewhat neglected the second half after the berries are harvested. Serious mistakes are using too much nitrogen fertilizer, and cultivating after the last of August.

Cane fruits respond to timely irrigation during periods of drought. Water may be applied by sprinklers, soaker hoses, or trickle irrigation.

Sprinklers are easier to operate and faster, but if the foliage is wet for extended periods the plants are more susceptible to certain fungus diseases. It is suggested the homeowner irrigate by soaker type hoses or trickle irrigation.

Probably the best system is trickle irrigation, which applies a few gallons of water a day. It requires very little water at very low pressure. With trickle irrigation the water is applied along the row at intervals of 18 to 24 inches. It does not wet the entire surface.

Most people recognize the importance of irrigation between bloom and harvest for the fruiting canes. But irrigation may be needed from May to September for adequate growth and development of the primocanes which are next year's fruiting canes. A permanent mulch controls weeds and reduces water loss by evaporation from the soil's surface.

A raspberry planting usually responds to 1 to 2 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer or equivalent applied per 20 feet of row in early spring before start of growth. If you use less nitrogen, cease cultivation by mid-July and allow weeds, grass or cover crop to grow between the rows. The plants then are less likely to be susceptible to low winter temperatures.

In a very cold area you can protect canes and buds from winter injury by bending the canes to the ground in late fall before the ground freezes, covering the tips with soil. This keeps the canes below the snow line. Or you can cover canes with mulch. The author was able to grow Thornfree blackberries at Ithaca, N.Y., and had a beautiful crop after a winter of 18 F during the coldest night.

When canes are given winter protection by covering with mulch, how do you know when to uncover them in spring? Wait until warm weather but uncover them before the buds start growth.

Harvest red raspberries when the fruit is ripe, usually about the end of strawberry season. There are early, mid-season and late varieties of raspberries. A given variety will produce fruit over a 17- to 25-day period. Blackberries ripen after raspberries.

If you laid out a good variety planting of red, black or purple raspberries; blackberries and thornless blackberries, and fall-bearing raspberries, in some States you can have fresh berries for your table almost daily from strawberry season until early November.

Currants and gooseberries are ripe when soft, well colored, and tasty. In making jelly, some people like tart berries which are not fully ripe. Others prefer berries that are fully ripe and high in sugars. Few people are aware that immature gooseberries, "hard as marbles," make a tastier pie than ripe berries.

Yields per plant will differ greatly depending on variety and cultural care. Raspberries and blackberries should average a quart or more of fruit per plant. Thornless blackberries and boysenberries may produce somewhat higher yields. A mature currant or gooseberry plant should yield 4 to 6 quarts a year.

Jewel black raspberry.

A raspberry planting may be productive for 7 to 12 years. Currants and gooseberries should be fruitful and productive for 20 years, and in some home gardens the same bush has been productive for 50 years.

Remove any plants that become unproductive. Buy new plants and set them in a different location.

Ripe fruit is prized by birds, mice, and raccoons. If birds are a serious problem, obtain netting with 3/4- to 1-inch mesh and cover the planting. An electric fence with wires at a height of 5 and 10 inches is effective in keeping raccoons and similar animals away. Mice are likely to be a problem with a permanent mulch.