The Secret to Growing Raspberries in the Garden

When you start growing raspberries in the garden it can be very rewarding as raspberries are quite easy to grow and can provide the whole family with tasty fruit. However they do have their challenges.

If you are new to raspberry growing you might not know which varieties to grow or what your options are or where best to plant them. This page aims to help you with your raspberry basics and put you on the path to those brightly colored and tasty fruits.

Raspberries are fairly resilient plants. Out on the allotment at the end of the season there are usually several people with spare raspberry canes if you are new or haven't any and want some.

I had some last year. The only thing is I don't know (and neither did the people giving them to me if the canes were summer or autumn fruiting varieties.

This is quite important as they are treated differently and grow differently. With the autumn fruiting varieties fruiting on the new shoots that grow in the spring. The summer ones grow off of the old stems.

So if you cut back the summer ones to the base you can lose the area where your plant needs to grow.

I just popped them into the ground and decided to wait and see. This year sure enough some are coming out of the side. A couple don't seem to be doing anything. One may or may not be spring. The season has started late so I will leave them for a while.

(If you want to see this take a look at the video on this page about planting and caring for your raspberries).

When you are planting manure in well before planting if you can to give them the best start.

I cannot recommend growing from seed as I have never tried it but the plants are quick to grow and produce fruit fairly soon so I personally don't see any need for using seed (unless that is all you can get). If your budget won't run to several plants just invest in one and take from the shoots when they grow. You will soon have plenty.

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Raspberries seem to grow really well without as much care as other plants. Perhaps they just like it where I am. However there are a few things you can do to encourage them.

Remember to manure when you plant.

They also need mulch as they don't like to dry out. Heavy clay soil is a nightmare for that as it goes like rock in the summer.

However the main problem that people seem to have is that they are very invasive if not kept in check and they send out shoots which again if left will just expand your plants domain over years. This is great if you have the space, if not you need to be vigilant of those shoots.

There are several ways of dealing with shoots. You can just keep an eye out for them and dig them up when they are small plants. You can put your plants into a bed surrounded with wood as the shoots go along the ground and are not deep. This should help prevent them escaping. Another option is to raise your raspberries (a bit like potatoes) so that any shoots will just stick out of the ground so they don't ever get the chance for form a plant You just chop them off. Remember though raised beds dried out faster so this need to be considered.

I got attached to these last year when I saw them in someone else's allotment. I was so impressed with the color (simple things and all that!) You just don't see them in the stores where I live so that makes them worth growing. I have also heard that they have a much higher price where you do see them so that makes them doubly worth the effort.

It is the perfect raspberry yet in gold, same size, same shape but not the same taste. These are sweeter than your red raspberries with a much more mild flavor. They range from palest of yellows through to strong golden fruits. You can get both spring and autumn varieties.

Another thing I like about them is that they are a completely natural variation of the red raspberries so they are as hardy.

Like the red fruits the golden ones can be used in a variety of ways. You can just eat them. There is nothing like just picking and eating a fruit off the bush that you know is naturally grown with no sprays; (though if you are a bit squeamish like me you might what to do a quick insect check first).

Or you can stew them or use them in pies etc.