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I've been eating fresh raspberries on my morning cereal and evening ice cream for about a month now. At the price of fresh raspberries at the grocery store, I would go broke if I didn't grow my own. Also, I would have a much shorter season to enjoy them. Raspberries are a popular small fruit in our region, second only to strawberries. Red raspberries grow best in areas which have mild winters and cool summers, so they do wonderfully here.
Vigorous, large-fruiting varieties have been developed in the Northwest for commercial production and several of these are excellent for home garden planting. Three good ones are Willamette, Meeker and Sumner. Meeker's fruit is considered the standard for flavor, but make sure you have good soil drainage. Sumner is probably the most dependable, because of its ability to grow in less than ideal soils.
Two newer introductions from British Columbia are also recommended. Chilliwack will grow in heavier, wetter soils. It is productive with very sweet, large, bright red fruit. Tulameen, my personal favorite, needs a well-drained soil. It has exceptionally large fruits that mature over a very long period.
If you really want to extend the harvest season, grow a few plants of a fall-bearing cultivar such as Summit, as well. These produce fruit on the new growth (primocanes) from August until frost. Summit is resistant to root rot. Its flavor isn't quite up to the July cultivars, but any fresh raspberry is better than none at all.
Red raspberries have stiff, erect canes that are produced from buds on the root system. They sucker freely and can be invasive of other plantings, so plant raspberries where they can be cultivated on both sides of the rows. They grow best in moderately fertile, well-drained soils and they do not tolerate wet feet.
Prepare the site very well prior to establishing the planting by adding compost, manure or other well-composed organic matter. Plant as soon as the soil is workable in the spring. Cut the canes on new plants to 6 or 8 inches at the time they are planted. Do not try to produce fruit the first season. The first growing season you should get three to five canes per plant. These will produce berries the following season.
Raspberry plants can be spaced 2-3 feet apart in rows about 5 feet apart. New raspberry canes grow erect, but as the fruiting laterals form during the following season, they need some type of support to keep from falling over. A simple trellis of posts and wires to which the canes are tied works well. Space the posts about 10 feet apart and use 12 gauge or heavier wire. Each season new canes will come up around the existing plants. Cut out all the shoots that sprout outside your trellised rows.
After you harvest fruit from the second-year canes, they should be removed. Do it soon after harvest to allow full sun exposure for the new replacement canes. Tie the new canes to the trellis in the late fall or winter. After the plants are dormant (the leaves have dropped), top the fruiting canes to 4 ½ to 5 ½ feet. Pruning the canes back forces the lateral fruiting spurs to grow out at a convenient height for picking. Longer canes normally bear no more fruit than 5 ½-foot canes.
Fall-bearing raspberries can be pruned like July-bearers to get a summer crop on year-old canes. However, I recommend that you maximize fall production by pruning them nearly down to the soil line each winter. This pruning method (for fall-bearing cultivars only) has the additional advantage that the bed will not require trellising.
The canes on established raspberry plants should grow 8 feet tall. If yours aren't growing vigorously, apply 2 - 3 pounds of 5-10-10 fertilizer per 100 feet of row in early spring.
The most common problem with red raspberries is root rot. The plants will form little, green fruit and then the fruiting canes dry up and die. At the same time, the new primocanes are green and growing well. Raspberry beds in heavy soils or with a high water table almost always succumb eventually. Although the soil may look dry as a bone now, consider whether it is well drained in January. There is no cure for root rot. If your garden drainage is less than perfect, prevent it by choosing resistant cultivars and planting in raised beds.
A raspberry planting should remain productive for 15 to 20 years. That's a lot of half-pints of berries!
Hortsense: Managing plant problems with Integrated Pest Management
