Want to grow your own raspberries but not sure where to start? Confused by bare root vs potted or summer vs autumn fruting? Worry not, this guide has you covered.
Summer Vs Autumn Fruiting
There are two main types of raspberry, summer fruiting ones and autumn fruiting ones. The differences go deeper than just when you get your delicious berries, as they actually grow in slightly different ways.
Summer fruiting raspberry fruit on last year's old growth. The easy way to remember which is which is that summer ones fruit earl,y as the branches are already developed.
Autumn fruiting ones develop fruit on this years new growth, that is why they develop fruit later as they have to grow first and then fruit.
So if you are hoping to get a decent harvest this year then plant autumn fruiting raspberries.
As a little side note, autumn-fruiting raspberries can actually fruit on both the old and new growth, so you can get two harvests in one year!
Bare Root Vs Potted
The two main ways you can get new raspberry plants are either in a pot or as a bare root plant. Bare-root plants tend to be cheaper but are usually only available in autumn and spring. Potted plants are a little more expensive, but they are ready to grow straight away, whereas bare roots will be dormant.
One little piece of buying advice is that if you are looking at potted raspberries, and want a harvest in the first year of planting. Buy an autumn fruiting variety! These will produce fruit on this year's new growth, while a summer fruiting variety will only fruit on last year's existing growth.
What Are Bare-Root Raspberries
Bare root is a term used for how the raspberries will be delivered to you. It is a common way to deliver dormant plants over the winter.
The name bare root simply comes from the fact that the roots will be bare, i.e., there will be no soil or compost around them. As the plants are dormant, this won't affect them, and while they may just look like sticks, the plant is just fine.
This allows for the plants to be cheaper as they are easier to store and ship without all that compost!
Planting Raspberries
When To Plant
There are two times suitable for planting raspberries: autumn and spring. I prefer to plant in early spring as your plants won't have to be stood outside during the worst months of winter.
March-April is the perfect time for me to plant my raspberries, and that is exactly what I am doing right now!
How To Plant
No matter which type you are planting, the steps are the same. TIf you have bare roots then soak them in a bucket of water for an hour or two, this just helps rehydrate them and wake them up from their long slumber! If you have a potted plant you can skip this.
Next, you want to dig a medium hole where you are going to plant your raspberry.
I am digging straight into grass as you can see, I'm not too worried about this as I am digging a lot of the grass out and then I will be adding a thick mulch of woodchips over the top.
You then want to backfill the hole with fresh compost.
I am actually using a mix of ericaceous and regular compost because raspberries prefer their soil slightly acidic, but not overly so. Now this is probably overkill and you will be fine with regular compost, but I was at the garden centre and thought I might as well!
The mix I am using is 4:1, 200L of regular compost to 50L of ericaceous.
You can also add a little extra nutrition to the planting hole at this time if you want to give your plants a head start. Use an organic slow release fertiliser like blood, fish and bone and just add a small handful - no need to go crazy.
Once your new compost is in the hole, you want to make a small hole in it with your hands to pop the raspberry into.
Make sure you dig it wide enough so that you can get all of the roots in.
In regards to depth you can go quite deep with raspberries as a lot of the growth will come from new side shoots underground. If you have an obvious pruning point - like the kink on mine then don't bury the plant below this.
Now you want to continue backfilling with your new compost.
Once the plant is in, then you want to firm it down strongly, I just use my fist for this. While you are doing this make sure the cane is staying straight.
Once you are done, you might water the plant, but this depends on the weather. It has been so wet this winter that i wont be watering mine - the soil is plenty wet enough already.
Mulching
Mulching raspberries is a great idea; it helps prevent competition from weeds and also helps feed the soil over time. I like to use woodchip for this as it is a free resource for me and slightly acidic normally.
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