Raspberry

Raspberry: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Upright canes of 1–2 m that shoot up from the roots; spreads by suckers.

Leaf

Alternate, pinnate with 3–5 (7) toothed leaflets; white-felted underneath.

Bark

Biennial canes with fine prickles.

Flower

Small white flowers in May–June, later in summer on autumn varieties.

Fruit

Red raspberries that pull away easily from the core; yellow varieties also exist.

Difference from bramble

Bramble has arching stems with strong prickles and blackberries.

Flowering: May–July · Harvest and fruit: May–October · Pruning: February and August

Identify by feature: Pinnate leaves · White or silver underside · Thorns or prickles

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Bramble Rubus: arching stems with strong prickles and blackberries. Difference from bramble

Why grow it?

• Fresh raspberries from June until the first frost, by combining summer and autumn varieties.
• Simple pruning: you always cut out the canes that have fruited.
• Bees and bumblebees love the flowers.
• Takes up little space: a row along wires fits into the smallest vegetable plot.

Raspberry: where does it grow best?

• Sun to light partial shade; the fruit is sweetest in the sun.
• Light, humus-rich, slightly acid soil; on wet soil the roots rot, on chalky soil the leaves turn yellow.
• A row needs about 1 m width, with 1.5–2 m between two rows.

Light

Sun or partial shade

Legal basis

Acid soil

Moisture

Normal

Size

2 m tall, 1 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Highbush blueberry: Also likes acid, humus-rich soil: together a fruit corner on sandy soil.
• Redcurrant: Red berries in the same sunny fruit corner, around the time of the summer raspberry harvest.
• Gooseberry: Soft fruit that also crops in partial shade and needs little space.

Good and bad companions

Goes well with

• Suits the woodland edge or the light shade of: english oak, sessile oak, pin oak, turkey oak
• Like acid soil, just like this plant: heather, rhododendron, japanese skimmia, highbush blueberry, witch hazel, broom, gorse, camellia

Raspberry: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant from November to March, with the roots just below the surface (5–8 cm).
2. Mix compost or leaf mould into the soil and space the plants 40–50 cm apart in the row.
3. Put up posts with two or three wires, at roughly 60, 120 and 160 cm, and tie the canes to them.
4. After planting, cut the canes back to 25 cm above the ground: the plant then first makes strong roots and new canes.

Care

Watering

Regularly in dry spells, especially as the fruit swells: raspberries are shallow-rooted.

Mulching

A layer of compost, straw or leaves keeps the soil moist and weeds down. Don’t hoe: you would damage the shallow roots.

Suckers

Dig out suckers outside the row with a spade; otherwise they wander all over the garden.

Harvest

Pick every 2–3 days, in dry weather, when the fruit comes away easily. They keep badly but freeze very well.

Tip: Plant both summer and autumn raspberries: you will pick from June to October, and autumn raspberries are the easiest to prune.

Raspberry: when to prune it?

Pruning months: February and August.

When: Summer raspberries: after harvest (August). Autumn raspberries: in February.

How:

• Summer raspberries fruit on last year’s canes: after harvest, cut the fruited canes off at ground level and keep 6–8 strong young canes per metre.
• Tie these young canes to the wires; in February, trim overlong tips to just above the top wire.
• Autumn raspberries fruit on this year’s canes: in February, cut them all down to just above the ground.

Caution: With summer raspberries, never cut out the young canes: they carry next year’s crop.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Suckers

In autumn or winter, dig up a sucker with roots and replant it somewhere new. Only take suckers from healthy plants.

Raspberry: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Fully hardy.
• Leave the young canes of summer raspberries tied to the wires over winter, so that wind and snow don’t break them.

Diseases and pests

• Raspberry beetle: Small white grubs in the fruit. Autumn raspberries suffer less, as they flower after the beetle’s flight period.
• Spotted wing drosophila: Soft, collapsed fruit with tiny maggots, especially on autumn raspberries. Pick often and thoroughly, and clear up rotten fruit.
• Grey mould: Grey fluff on the fruit in wet weather. Keep the row open, without too many canes, and remove rotten fruit.
• Root rot: Canes wilt and die on wet soil. Plant on a raised ridge or in a drier spot.

Through the year

• February: Cut autumn raspberries down; trim the tips of summer raspberries.
• March: Compost and mulch; last month for planting.
• May: Flowering: bees and bumblebees in the row.
• June: Summer raspberry harvest begins.
• July: Main harvest; pick often.
• August: Cut out the fruited canes of summer raspberries; autumn raspberries begin.
• September: Autumn raspberry harvest; watch for spotted wing drosophila.
• November: Planting and moving suckers.

What can you use it for?

Food and drink

Raspberries, fresh, in jam or frozen.

For wildlife

Bees and bumblebees love the flowers.

Edible and useful

Leaves (May–July)

From May to July, pick young, undamaged leaves from healthy canes. Dried, they make a mild herbal tea reminiscent of black tea, on its own or mixed with blackberry or blackcurrant leaves.

Fruit (June–October)

Pick raspberries on a dry day, when they are fully red and come off the plug without pulling. Summer raspberries crop in June–July, autumn raspberries from August until the first frost. Fresh, in jam, coulis, tarts, vinegar or liqueur.

Storing

Raspberries are very fragile: do not wash them, keep them in a shallow dish and eat within a day or two. To freeze: spread out on a plate, then bag them. Dry the leaves on a rack in the shade and keep them in a closed jar.

Caution: Pick wild raspberries away from busy roads and sprayed fields, preferably above knee height, and wash them before eating (fox tapeworm). Raspberries can cause allergies in sensitive people. For tea, only use undamaged, thoroughly dried leaves.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Raspberry jam (Jam · ± 4 jars · 30 min)
• Raspberry vinegar (Vinegar · ± 500 ml · 10 min + 1–2 weeks infusing)
• Raspberry leaf tea (Tea · ± 20 cups · 15 min + 3–5 days drying)
• Raspberry clafoutis (Dish · 4–6 servings · 15 min + 40 min baking)

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Bumblebees

Nectar and pollen for bumblebees, also from deep flowers and early in spring.

Birds

Berries, seeds or insects as food, or a place to nest.

Did you know?

• It spreads by suckers, so raspberries slowly wander through your garden.
• A raspberry is not a berry but an aggregate fruit made up of dozens of tiny drupelets, each with its own seed.
• When you pick it, the cone-shaped core stays on the plant: that is why a raspberry is hollow.
• The species name idaeus refers to Mount Ida, where the ancient Greeks said raspberries grew.
• A raspberry is really an aggregate fruit: each little bead is a separate drupelet with its own seed, formed from its own pistil.