Pruning remontant raspberries: how to do it correctly

Raspberry

Everbearing raspberries can produce two harvests per year. Therefore, caring for them requires a slightly different approach than regular raspberries. Let's discuss what pruning everbearing raspberries involves, when, and how to do it correctly. By the way, you can see all of this in the photo.

Everbearing raspberries and their characteristics

A special raspberry variety that appeared over 250 years ago. Descriptions of this species can be found in reference books dating back to 1778. In our country, it only began to be cultivated in the 1970s, when breeders began to closely study the properties of everbearing raspberries.

A distinctive feature of this variety is that it can bloom throughout the growing season on first- and second-year shoots. Second-year shoots begin to produce flower buds in the fall, like any other raspberry, and bloom as early as early June. At this time, the new season's foliage begins to grow, producing numerous branches that produce berries in the second half of summer in the south and closer to autumn in other regions.

Why do you prune everbearing raspberries?

Gardeners have different goals:

Increase fruiting.
Dry branches are removed.
They do not allow the raspberries to grow and form root shoots.
Remove damaged and infected branches.
The shoots are shortened.
They rejuvenate the bush.
Preparing for the winter period.

It is important to decide right away how much raspberry harvests the gardener wants to get one or two.

Spring pruning

Spring is the time when nature awakens. At this time, the most important thing is to not miss the pruning moment, before the sap begins to flow. Therefore, raspberries are pruned in April, and in northern latitudes, closer to the beginning of May. What kind of pruning is suitable for everbearing raspberries, when, and how to do it correctly are discussed below.

In the spring, only sanitary pruning is performed, as everything else is done in the fall. Spring can also be used to improve the bush's fruiting. Regardless of the type of raspberry, it only bears fruit twice: in the first and second years, after which the branches die back. These branches should be pruned if they weren't pruned in late summer.

Spring pruning is best done in the south, where frosts are rare. In winter, raspberries are left uncovered, and temperatures rarely drop below freezing.

The plant begins to grow as early as January or February. However, there's a risk of deteriorating weather, with short-term drops below freezing. The newly opened buds will be destroyed.

In this case, pruning can be done in March, as everbearing raspberries bear fruit on both previous and current year's shoots. This should be done correctly. This won't harm the bushes, as the growing season in southern regions is quite long. You can see how pruning is done in the video.

Interesting!

Raspberries were known as far back as the 3rd century BC in Ancient Rome. According to Greek myth, the berries turned red when a Cretan princess pricked herself on a bush while trying to give a treat to the infant god Zeus, who was known to have been born on the island. Raspberries only reached Europe in the 16th century.

Summer pruning

Trimming everbearing raspberriesPruning is a laborious task, so it's important to know when and how to do it properly. Bushes are generally not pruned in the summer. Only if they are affected by disease or pests, or if they are drying out. All existing shoots are also removed. Root control can also help.

You can remove excess stems if the plantings are dense, so they don't draw nutrients from fruiting branches. Also, starting in mid-July, you should remove fruiting branches from the second year. In the summer, pinch out young shoots to encourage more lateral branches.

Please note!

Raspberry productivity depends on the amount of nutrients reaching the roots, leaves, and fruit. Crowding the plantings too densely draws some of these nutrients away and also encourages the development of fungal diseases during rainy periods.

The same thing happens if the plant is weakened by pests and diseases. Therefore, in addition to pruning, everbearing raspberries also require proper care.

Autumn pruning

In the fall, careful pruning is carried out. The type of pruning depends on the owner's preferences and should be done approximately two weeks before the first frost.

Fruiting once

If you want large, abundant berries, you should completely remove all shoots. Our article shows this in pictures.

Let's go through step by step what needs to be done to get it like in the photo.

Take pruning shears or scissors with long handles.
Wear thick gloves.
Cut all branches as close to the ground as possible.
Don't forget to collect all cuttings along with the leaves and burn them, as they may harbor fungi and insects.

With this type of pruning of remontant raspberries, the fruits can be harvested in July.

Fruiting at least 2 times

Everbearing raspberries can bear fruit twice a summer. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this method?

The harvest is also split in two. The second wave is smaller than the first. The berries may be smaller.
The first fruit formation occurs at the end of June, the second in August.
After the first harvest, additional care of the bushes and replenishment of the soil with nutrients is necessary.

The first set of berries appears on last year's branches, the second on this year's branches. Therefore, completely pruning everbearing raspberries to ensure double fruiting is not necessary. The main thing is to follow a certain procedure. We'll explain the correct time and method below. Pruning follows this pattern:

First, the second year shoots are cut out.
Damaged branches are removed at soil level.
The bushes are thinned out, leaving no more than 10 shoots on each, so that the sun's rays can pass through well and there is constant ventilation.
On new branches, the tops are cut back to the first bud.

Remove the leaves from the remaining stems. It's best to do this using thick gloves, simply running your hand along the branch. All the dry leaves will fall off immediately.
Fallen leaves are collected with a rake, and all cut branches must be burned.
The raspberry root system also needs pruning, as it spreads horizontally. Use a sharp spade to cut the roots extending from the bush in a circle, 30-40 cm from the stems.
Mulch is applied to protect raspberries from freezing. Hay, straw, pine needles, sawdust, wood shavings, and other materials are used for this purpose.

Autumn pruningIt is needed in any case, but the gardener decides which one is better to do.

What happens after autumn pruning?

Whatever you do, you should continue caring for your raspberries after removing the shoots. If the fall is warm, watering at the roots is necessary. The last time is about two days before the onset of frost.

To prepare the bushes for winter, they need to be fed. Toward the end of the growing season, add nitrogen-rich organic matter to encourage growth in spring. In northern regions, if partial pruning is not done, branches should also be bent to the ground and covered.

Pruning everbearing raspberries is a common practice for gardeners. For beginners who don't yet know when and how to do it properly, our tips will be helpful. We hope you'll have abundant and consistent harvests; the key is to do everything right.