Kitchen Garden Forum

In my years of being employed I have just grown my raspberries in a thicket. Now I have retired and have time I have them in rows. So to put posts and wires in and tie them or not? If you are for tying them in then I ask what's the evidence for this practice?

I tie in the Summer fruiting ones as the canes are there all Winter getting bashed about by the wind. Quicker to tie them in with a long piece of string working along the row rather than short bits for each cane, also keeps them spaced out better. The Autumn fruiting ones I grow between parallel wires and try and tuck them in as they grow to stop them flopping everywhere. I also have some cross wires to divide them into sections so they don't all bunch up along the row if the wind blows that way.

And what happens if we just leave them to sway in the breeze?

Up here I think they would do rather more than sway. In sheltered areas perhaps they would be OK but custom and practice suggests not. As usual the RHS comment https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your ... aspberries

I don't have post or wire set up but I do put up stakes around the edge of the beds when the plants are tall & tie plastic coated wire at various heights to contain them, adding more wire when needed. Mainly for my convenience though so I can get along the beds to harvest. I take it down completely when I cut down the Autumn ones, but leave the bottom wire on the summer ones when I thin them.

Ok thanks all. I think the emphasis is on the canes not suffering wind damage. I have a plan and pictures will follow......

On the alloment which I have recently taken over,there is a "thicket" of raspberries of unknown variety and not sure if they summer or autumn fruiting(soon find out if and when berries appear) and,strangely, only stand about waist high.In amongst this lot I have a Gooseberry plant,A Blueberry plant,a Blackberry,and a Blackcurrant with various flowers growing in this patch which measures no more than four square yards,a small raised bed.Not bothering with it at the moment but will be sorted later in the year.

Looking forward to your plan Compo!

The wild ones I find when hill walking or fishing up here are quite a lot shorter in height than the ones I have in my garden, so evolution has solved their problem. In the garden I tend to grow in between wires as Geoff said, that way they can sway a bit, but not get broken by our quite rough coastal winds.