Pruning Heritage and Fall Gold Rasberries

[ninnymary]

I’ve asked this question before but I still don’t get it. How am I supposed to prune them? I get confused on “old wood “ and “new wood”.

The vines are about 5 ft tall and have new growth like hydrangeas. Do I cut to the ground? If not, how high do I leave them?

Mary

 

[ninnymary]

 

[Ridgerunner]

I had to look up fall gold raspberries. I haven't grown them and there are different types of raspberries so you prune them differently.

The way those work is that they produce a crop on new canes in the fall. Then in the spring they produce another crop on those same canes, then those canes are done and need to be removed to the ground.

So you take out any canes that bore raspberries in the spring and leave the ones that bore in the fall.

 

[ninnymary]

So I should be pruning in late spring only those canes that bore berries that I harvested? I can tell where I picked the berries so those are the ones I should prune right? Do I prune to the ground?

Mary

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes, prune the ones that bear in the spring. You can prune them right after they bear.

Yes, prune to the ground, totally remove them. Get those canes out of your way. They will come back from the roots.

 

[ninnymary]

I'm still confused. I prune some and will leave some. But aren't they the same kind? Seems to me that I would prune everything at the same time. They all seem to have new buds coming in like the ones in the picture. They are also a little tangle. I will do my best.

Mary

 

[Ridgerunner]

A little tangled? You should see my blackberries. Pruning those is fairly high on my list. That helps me mow around them to keep them contained plus I don't stick myself so much with the old canes gone when I pick next summer. But my wife is hosting a Weaver's Guild function in about three weeks so my top priority is getting the landscaping up to snuff so I don't embarrass her too much. At least she gave me adequate warning this time.

Certain fruits and berries produce on year-old wood, some produce on new growth. Your raspberries do both, sort of, at least in theory. They grow some berries in the fall on that spring's growth, then produce more the next spring on what is then the previous year's growth. In theory that is the end of their berry producing life and they should be removed to make way for new growth and to get them out of your way when you harvest. How much you get on that fall harvest and then the next spring will depend on your climate. In your nice climate I have no idea what kind of split you'll get. Here when I had that kind of raspberry I got maybe 10% in fall and 90% in spring.

I say in theory because we all live in different climates and have different conditions. We can get different results. It is possible you can get some new growth that might even produce a few berries on those old canes. When I did it would be very little production and just around the base. Mainly I'd be left with a very thorny dead cane that was painful when I tried to pick the berries.