sticks = canes. You will find the canes are not as hard as they look and can be mowed. I don't have a very big bed and use hedge trimmers to cut down mine.

Scott

Hi Michelle-
Since Heritage is an "everbearing" or "fall bearing" raspberry, you can either choose to "mow" or "not mow". If you do mow, you'll get 1 larger crop of berries more towards the fall. If you don't mow, but rather prune back the dead tops of the canes in the spring, you'll get two smaller crops... although I believe that the total yield is about the same. Often, I choose not to mow so I spread out my harvest. But, near my driveway, I mow the patch because that's where the plow dumps the snow.

All "mowing" means is that once the plants stop producing berries, drive over it with the lawn mower. I can't believe any lawnmower having a problem here... though a weekwacker probably cut it. Yeah, itÂs a little violent, with canes flying anywhere, but really itÂs not a problem. If you prefer, though, feel free to use a pair of hand pruners. When you are done, there will be nothing in your raspberry bed taller than 2-3 inches or so.

Does that clarify it at all?
-Glenn

Yes, guys, thanks- that does clarify for me! One more question: next spring, since I will have cut down everything to two or three inches in the late fall, where will the new shoots come from? Are they going to come up from the root system under the ground, or what? Are the canes that I cut going to grow again, and then put out new shoots?

Hi Michelle71-
Most of the time, the new canes come out of the ground a small distance away from the old canes. Other times, you can get a new cane coming off the cut cane from last year... but this is much rarer. When I say "small distance", it can mean anything from .25 Inches away, or the runners can tunnel underground for upwards of 6 feet (or so I'm told... mine have tunneled up to a foot though)! So, make sure you have your bed contained somehow.

A picture is worth a thousand words, and the one below was taken just for you. Hopefully that will clarify it for you.
-Glenn

{{gwi:82719}}

Glenn,
What did you use to contain your plants? How deep is it?
Thanks

Actually, all that is is black edging there. If they wander into the grass, they get mowed, no big deal. If they wander into the driveway, (it's gravel, so they really don't like to go there) I run the mower down there too. I've actually never had to contain my raspberries... I just plant them in a way that my mower is my containment mechanism. But, it would be easy for someone to plant them next to say a nice mulched planting bed (where you can't mow), or next to a neighbors fence, where they could easily get out of control.
-Glenn

Glenn-

Thanks- that picture is EXACTLY what I have been trying to find.

It has all become clear.

(Uh-oh. I think I have some worrying to do as I have planted the canes too close, I think, to my neighbors fence!)

Michelle

Glad to help Michelle. Good luck with your fence problem! If they're friendly, you could try asking them if they would like/mind if the raspberries crept over there. -Glenn

I have a couple questions also (just planted raspberries for the first time this year as well).

1. What happens to the old canes (the 2 inch stubs left after mowing)? What I mean is, after several years, does your bed become a mess of old dead canes/roots? How long can a raspberry bed be productive before it becomes choked out by its own canes (if it even will)? If it does get choked out, do you just dig it up and start over?

2. How deep does the barrier need to be? Will 8 inches work? What happens to the cane when it hits the barrier? Will I get a huge amount of canes growing up just inside the barrier (all the ones that hit it)?

I have some space to mow around them, but I am kind of a neat freak and like things orderly looking. I'd prefer to contain them if possible.

Our everbearing reds are cut back to 10 inches, by hand, in the fall. The canes go onto the compost pile. Before it snows, the entire bed is covered with shredded maple tree leaves to a depth of 8 inches, or so. This is done mainly to suppress weed growth in the spring. There are always a few volunteers, new growth, from runners, that show up every spring. If they are in the lawn, I dig them out & compost them, but if they are in the bed, I usually let them grow. Eventually an established clump of raspberry canes will die back and disappear, so its helpful to have the volunteers. The bed does not get choked up with old canes if it is cut back every fall. I am sure that mowing the bed has the same effect. It cleans up the bed, removing old growth, and allowing the volunteers a chance to get established the following year.

I tried the mowing method and found that I'm much better served getting both crops, even if the mid-summer crop is light. The plants are just healthier and more vigorous if you let the fall bearing canes make an encore- at least here.

Hi Backyardener-

1a.) The bed in the picture above is about 3 years old. IÂd say the stubs really only hang around for a year or so before they decompose, so the bed never becomes mess.

1b) I donÂt think a bed would ever choke itself out. YouÂre supposed to thin the canes though but I sometimes donÂt get to that. Either way, you still get berries. I do believe raspberries will decline after a number of years (though I donÂt remember how many). I figure by that time, the kids will be out of the house and I wonÂt mind if theyÂre a bit less productive.

2.) There are differing opinions on how deep the barrier must be, but I canÂt say for sure because IÂve never tried to contain them. I believe I saw some sources which said 2 feet! All I can say is that the canes have zero problem going under my 4" deep drip edge. I should shoot for more than 8 inches though.

2b) I havenÂt really noticed them bunching up at a barrier (see pic)Â but if they do, just thin Âem out a bit.

IÂm a neat freak too usually.

-Glenn

Hi Ericwi-

IÂve never heard of cutting them back to 10". IÂve heard either mow them, or prune back the tops after the canes are done making berries. But, I guess your 10" isnÂt really 10", if you add 8 inches of stuff on top.

Yes, you need to have "volunteers". Without new canes, your patch would be dead that year if you mowed, or next year if you just pruned the dead tops.
-Glenn

Hi Harvestman-
Yeah, I like 2 crops just to spread out my harvest. And, now that you mention it my patches that I mow donÂt seem to be as vigorous as the ones where I just prune the dead tops.
-Glenn

Thanks for the useful information Glenn. I think I am going to give my 8 inch barrier a try and see how that goes. If that doesn't work, I may go deeper or just give up and control them by hand.

2nd year growing here: Thanks for making this post. I was wondering what the heck those little stubs were. I'm also glad to hear that I didn't mess up when I pruned my canes back. They seem to be coming back to life.

One last thing I am not clear on: The barrier you are talking about is that just an 8 inch deep piece of plastic to stop the roots from spreading everywhere? I'm sure I can ask the local green house but it would be nice to know what I am talking about.

Hi Somedudeinthegarden-
Yep, as long as they were "Everbearing" or "Fall bearing" raspberries, then pruning them back is just fine. You'll get 1 larger crop towards the fall. If, these were "Summer bearing" raspberries though, then they'll survive just fine, but you won't get any berries this year. This is because with summer bearing varieties, the fruit is on last year's canes (or "floricanes"). Do you know the variety?

Yep, we're just talking about some sort of barrier or containment to keep the raspberries from spreading. You might be able to use something besides plastic, but I think it's plastic which is usually used.

Backyardener-
8" might work. I've seen a lot of differening advice on this, so I'm really not sure. Some of my beds are next to a volleyball court with a 10" wooden barrier in ground (to prevent sand from bleeding into the grass). None of the canes have gone under that... but most of those beds are only in their 2nd or 3rd year. Good luck, and report back!
-Glenn

Actually, I tend to over-engineer things... In the building materials section of my local big box store I found some 2"x8"x16" concrete "slabs" that I was considering using. They are $0.70 each, so it could get pricey, but my bed is only 12 feet long, and they would definitely stop anything from passing. They would also stay put and last a long time. I calculated it to be less than $20 to enclose my bed, so not really too bad (if it works). You could also turn them the other way and have a 16" barrier, but that would cost twice as much. Not sure if I am going to go with the concrete or not, it was just a thought.