Raspberries are one of my favorite fruits to grow at home! They are easy to manage and are a worthwhile investment considering the price and flavor of those you can buy at the grocery store.
They require little maintenance each year, which involves pruning them.
First, a lesson on raspberries:
Each plant has 2 canes. One cane produces berries, the other grows leaves only.
Each year, the "leaf" cane stores collects energy to store throughout the winter to produce a new came that will grow berries the following year. It is important not to prune your raspberries until the leaves have fallen off - this allows time for the energy from the leaves to be transferred to the root of the plant.
Each year a new cane for growing berries will grow from each plant. Once a cane has produced berries, it is useless after that.
So, when pruning, you have 4 jobs:
1) Remove canes that previously produced berries
2) Remove dead canes
3) Trim to desired height
4) Maintain boundaries
Here is my raspberry patch: The leaves have fallen off or are dead, and it is a huge mess of vines.
