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Pruning Tips For Juicy Garden Raspberries This Spring
By LAUREN KRYSTAF
Your raspberry harvest depends on properly pruning your bushes. Tips to consider include using the right tools, preventing overcrowding, removing canes, and encouraging branching.
While thornless raspberry varieties exist, most have sharp spines that require thick leather gloves when pruning. To avoid damaging the plant, clean, sharp shears should be used.
Overcrowded raspberry bushes don’t receive sufficient airflow or sunlight, leading to disease and a poor harvest. Remove any dead or damaged canes in early spring to free up space.
Keep up to five of the healthiest second-year canes, then prune the rest. This is where the fruit will develop, so you should remove them only after the end of the harvest season.
If you have purple or black raspberries, encourage branch formation by cutting a few inches off the canes. Since the branches are where the berries develop, this step is vital.