Side by side
Raspberry or bramble? How to tell them apart
Rubus idaeus · Rubus
You can tell a raspberry by its upright canes with fine prickles, its leaves with a white-felted underside and its red raspberries; a bramble has arching stems with strong, hooked prickles and black blackberries.
Look at the stems: upright and covered in fine prickles on the raspberry, arching and armed with sturdy, curved prickles on the bramble. Turn a leaf over: bright white and felty on the raspberry, green or greyish green on most brambles.
| Raspberry | Bramble | |
|---|---|---|
| Leaves | Alternate, pinnate with 3–5 (7) toothed leaflets; white-felted underneath. | Alternate, palmately compound with 3–5 toothed leaflets; often semi-evergreen. |
| Flowering | Small white flowers in May–June (May–July). | White or pink flowers from June to August (June–August). |
| Fruit | Red raspberries that pull away easily from the core. | Blackberries (August–September). |
| Bark | Biennial canes with fine prickles. | Angular stems with strong, hooked prickles; the tips take root where they touch the ground. |
| Shape and height | Shrub, 1–2 m | Shrub, 1–3 m |
| Site | Sun or partial shade, acid soil, normal | Sun to shade, any garden soil, dry to wet |
| Native to Belgium | Yes | Yes |
| Good for bees, butterflies and birds | Yes, for bees and birds | Yes, for bees, butterflies and birds |
| Poisonous to people and pets | Not known to be poisonous | Not known to be poisonous |
| Pruning months | February and August | February–March and September–October |
The best feature in each season
- Spring
- The raspberry flowers in May–June with small, nodding white flowers; the bramble only from June, with larger white or pink flowers.
- Summer
- Raspberries ripen from June–July and come away from the core like a little hat; blackberries ripen from August and stay attached to their white core.
- Autumn
- The bramble carries blackberries into September and often keeps some of its leaves. On both, the stems that have fruited die after two years.
- Winter
- The tips of the bramble arch down to the ground and take root there; the raspberry spreads by underground suckers and keeps its canes upright.
Where do they grow?
Both are native and grow along woodland edges, in clearings, hedgerows and neglected corners. There are hundreds of hard-to-tell-apart bramble species here.
Which one for your garden?
- Both are good for bees and birds, and a bramble patch is a safe nesting place and shelter for hedgehogs. Leave a bit of wild bramble in a corner of the garden, but keep it in check.
- For a harvest, choose a raspberry or a thornless blackberry, trained along wires. Cut the tips of bramble stems before they touch the ground, or they will take over.
Did you know? Raspberries slowly walk through your garden: every year their suckers pop up a little further along.
Read on
- Plant profile: Raspberry
- Plant profile: Bramble
- Raspberry: when and how to prune
- Bramble: when and how to prune
- Identification key: the question that separates them
Also looks like
- Raspberry or dog rose
- Raspberry or Japanese wineberry
- Bramble or dog rose
- Bramble or Japanese wineberry