Kenneth C Brown
Is It Possible? In the month of June we pour our cereal into the bowl and then wander into the garden and pick more than enough Raspberries to cover the cereal. We add the milk or better still some cream, if the diet will allow and then sit on the patio beside my tiny berry patch and savour the flavour. Our little patch will allow us to do that almost every other day in June and then maybe once a week after that.
How Much Space? The June bearing plants occupy about a 100cm / 3ft diameter circle. If you want everbearing to carry on through the rest of the season you will need a second circle. Each of these circles was planted with 5-6 berry canes. The secret is to install a heavy stake in the centre of the circle. I use a steel ‘T’ bar about 3.3m/10ft long. That allows me to drive it into the ground about 1m/3ft, leaving 2.3m/7ft above the ground to support the plants. The critical factor is sunlight. The raspberry patch needs at least a full half day of sun if you want to flavour your corn flakes. Some heavy copper wire can then be attached to the stake and formed into a circle to support the canes as they grow.
How Much Work? Surprisingly little. Raspberries need to be pruned once a year but that’s about it. Very few pests or diseases will bother a #home garden# patch. They do need an adequate supply of moisture when they are fruiting but most years the natural rainfall will be sufficient. A little compost applied to the top of the soil once a year will usually take care of their nutritional needs. The only trick is knowing how and when to prune them. The June bearing varieties produce fruit on last year’s canes and the everbearing types produce their fruit on the current years canes. That requires the removal of the old canes after they have produced their crop. In mid-summer for the June bearing types and early winter or spring for the everbearing. Just cut the old brown canes at ground level and let the new green canes grow. If they are becoming a bit too prolific then remove the thinner and weaker of the new canes as well.
What Else Do I Need To Know? A good berry patch, if it is properly pruned can last for many years. Some varieties of Raspberries have a tendency to spread by underground runners. Just watch for new canes appearing where you least expect or want them and pull them out roots and all, back to the original patch. Do be careful, most canes are rather thorny and unfriendly. We don’t seem to have much problem with birds picking the berries ahead of us but it is something to watch for. It is rather easy to throw some netting over them when they are growing in this compact circle with the post in the middle to support both the canes and the netting. The most important thing to know is how delicious fresh Raspberries are and how relatively simple they are for a home gardener to grow.
Ken Brown is a professional horticulturist with a passion. He indulges in many aspects of gardening particularly vegetables and indoor gardening. He grows his vegetables in unique ways to maximize limited space. His articles, web site http://www.gardening-enjoyed.com and ezine -Dallying In The Dirt, are written in an informative but light hearted manner. Copyright Kenneth C Brown 2008