How To Grow Raspberries

Today, we're going to talk about growing raspberries. Raspberries need a sunny site, although they will tolerate a bit of shade and actually, in really hot areas, a bit of shade can be an advantage because you don't want them to scorch. Soil needs to be really rich in humus and moisture-retentive but really free- draining.

You can improve the soil by adding plenty of organic matter and well-rotten manure but it was to be well rotted, definitely not fresh. You need to prepare your bed well. These raspberries were actually grown in a raised bed which means that you can improve the soil a lot easier and you don't have to dig.

You need to dig up all the little weeds around and about because you don't want your raspberries competing with the weed seedlings and make sure you dig out any perennial weeds. They really will take, you know, the goodness away from the soil and away from the raspberries. Raspberries need to be supported as well because they're going to get really quite tall.

In this instance, we're going to have wires going from post to post and as the raspberries grow up, they're going to be tied into the wires and supported all the way along. You need to plant your raspberry canes at intervals so that they've got enough room around the roots to grow. These raspberries are just starting off, so as you can see, this is a new shoot here.

This will come up, be tied into the wires that are going to support it and you need to keep them watered. Don't let them dry out too much and make sure you keep a nice, rich top dressing of manure around the base of the plant but don't let them go too far near to the plant. Just so that the goodness will get right down to the roots.

Autumn fruiting raspberries need to be cut right back down to the ground in the winter and then they fruit on the new growth that appears in spring. They're really quite rapidly growing and you do need a nice big area for them. You need to also protect from pests such as the birds, the pigeons and even the chickens because they do like to come and peck at the foliage as well as the fruit.

So, this set up can be netted which means that the birds won't get in. And that's how to grow raspberries. .