How to Care for Raspberry Bushes

Raspberry bushes require little maintenance other than pruning, but the sweet, succulent summer fruit is a hard-won prize because it is picked from canes that bear fine thorns along with the berries. A raspberry plant is a long-lasting perennial, and its roots produce new canes every year. The canes are biennial, growing and producing foliage the first year and fruit the second year. To avoid a tangled mass of canes that make the berries even harder to pick, it's best to remove canes after they produce fruit.

Compost or 10-10-10 fertilizer
Shovel
Drip irrigation hose
Mulch
Loppers

Instructions

- 1
  Fertilize raspberry bushes in spring with compost or 10-10-10 fertilizer. Use a shovelful of compost or a handful of fertilizer for every foot of row.
- 2
  Water raspberry bushes when rainfall is less than 1 inch per week. Water slowly so that the water soaks into the soil rather than running off; drip irrigation may be ideal. When the bush bears fruit, increase water to 1 1/2 inches per week.
- 3
  Apply mulch to help the soil hold moisture and reduce competition from weeds.
- 4
  Use loppers to remove second-year canes at soil level after they produce fruit. First year canes are green. These canes will produce fruit next year. Second-year canes are brown. Trim the first-year canes back to about chest height.

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Growing Berries