How To Plant Raspberries: Care Of Raspberry Plants

Growing raspberry bushes is a great way to make your own jellies and jams. Raspberries are high in Vitamin A and C, so not only do they taste great but they're good for you as well.

How to Plant Raspberries

If you want to know how to grow raspberries, you should first know that raspberries ripen shortly after strawberries. They prefer a sandy loam soil that is rich in organic matter. The soil should be well drained and have a pH of about 5.8 to 6.5.

Growing raspberries bushes also prefer sunshine, so they should be planted in an area that gets six to eight hours of sun a day. When do you plant raspberries? You can plant them in the early spring.

Another aspect to consider when planting is not locating them within 300 feet (91 m.) of any wild blackberry bushes. You should also stay away from ground that has had tomatoes or potatoes growing in it within the past year or so. This is because wild blackberries, tomatoes, and potatoes are prone to the same sort of fungus that the raspberry bush is prone to, and this precaution prevents your raspberries from catching the fungus.

Care of Raspberry Plants

When growing raspberries, make sure the ground is kept free from weeds. Also, make sure you water the bushes regularly. You can use a straw mulch to help keep the weeds under control.

When you take care of raspberry plants, you want to fertilize them twice a year the first year you plant them. After that, you can fertilize your growing raspberry bushes annually. You will use 2 to 3 pounds (about 1 kg.) of 10-10-10 fertilizer per 100 foot (30 m.) of row. Scale that down if you are only planting a couple of bushes.

You will also need to prune raspberries as part of their care. Summer raspberries should be pruned twice a year. You will want to prune the growing raspberry bushes in the spring and right after you harvest the fresh berries. Everbearing red raspberries should be pruned twice a year because this provides two crops a season.

The care of raspberry plants sounds like a lot of work, but it's really quite simple. You can train these bushes to grow along fences and even to climb up on trellises.

Harvesting Raspberries

You will know your berries are ripe enough to eat when they are full of color. You can start sampling them daily until you get the right sweetness. Be sure to harvest your raspberries before the birds do!

Raspberry Quiz

Raspberry Care Essentials

• Test your soil with the Raintrip 4-In-1 Soil Meter from Amazon, which can help determine moisture content, soil pH, light levels and nutrient loads before planting – and help you decide on any soil amendments.
• Go for focused irrigation for your raspberry canes with a system that reduces the need for endless trips with a watering can. The Rain Bird Drip Irrigation Watering Kit from Lowe's ensures consistent moisture to the base where it’s needed most.
• Make sure you give your raspberries a balanced feed both at the start and end of spring with Espoma Organic Berry-Tone for Berries from Amazon. It’s formulated with probiotics that help promote stronger root networks and faster growth.
• Keep your canes in the peak of health and full of vigor with regular pruning, using Fiskars Bypass Pruning Shears, available from Amazon, a popular team favorite thanks to their clean, precise action through woodier canes.
• Protect developing canes in early spring with an organic mulch such as Back to the Roots Premium Organic Compost, available from Amazon, then top up with another layer in the fall to provide much-needed ground insulation.
• If you need to tackle Japanese beetles, use a swift application of Bonide Pyrethrin Spray Concentrate from Lowe’s – and make sure you follow up with a couple of repeat applications to avoid the threat of skeletonized leaves.

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