Kitchen Garden Forum

Hello

I've just been lucky enough to get my hands on another half an allotment (one I've been keeping the weeds down on for the last two summers because although someone was paying the rent, they didn't go near it ).
There is a big patch of summer raspberries on this plot, but obviously they were very overgrown. Last year, the fruit they produced was all mildewed or poor-looking in other ways.
I've just spent a day pulling out all the couch grass and nettles from in between them, so that at least they can get some light and air, though obviously, I havn't been able to do anything about the roots. I've also cut down all the old dead or unhealthy-looking shoots.
Do you think this will help to produce healthier fruit this year, or am I wasting my time? Is there anything else I should do - feed them, water them, or anything like that, or should I get them out and start again with healthy new plants?
What do you think?

Dear Caz, unless you desperately want to clear all the ground this year i would leave them be. You will have helped to combat the mildew problem by clearing out between the canes. A feed will help, but you will have to pull the weeds again through the season.

You will be able to get the other land free of weeds for next year if you wish to start a new bed of raspberries.

You could thin them to 4-6" between canes.

Dear OH
I'm in no hurry at all to clear the ground. I have just about enough room on my existing plot for all the veg I want to grow, so that's not an issue. I want the extra half plot for fruit. There are already some rhubarb plants there which I am now harvesting (ok, I admit it, I was harvesting it last year too! ), and there are several blackcurrant bushes which look like they will produce a good crop again this year, despite the neglect. I took cuttings from my gooseberry bushes last autumn, and will be able to plant these on the new plot at the end of the season, and I might put in some other types of fruit bushes/ trees at that time, but for the moment I will just harvest what is already there and do what I was already doing - keep the weeds down!
What I'm really wondering is whether it is possible / worthwhile trying to salvage the rasberry plants, or if I should just rip them out and start preparing a new patch for them.

Geoff: By the time I had pulled out all the weeds, the canes were actually not at all crowded. I suppose I will wait and see what happens before I make a decision on whether they stay or not, but any advice or suggestions are still very welcome