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goldfinchguy

Too late to plant raspberries?

GoldfinchGuy
10 years ago

Since we moved into this house I had always wanted to grow my own raspberries. My sister's backyard is currently overgrown with them, and she plans to have it all cleared out. Back in May she told me that I'm welcome to take as many as I'd like, so I took two of them. Planted them in a nice sunny spot in my yard next to the strawberry patch. One ended up dying, but the other one did well and was starting to bear fruit nicely. Well, this evening as I went to water it, I noticed that the plant had been snapped off at the ground. Turns out my neighbor stepped on it.
Anyways, my sister told me that I can come to her house anytime to take more plants. However, being that it is July already I am a bit worried that it is too late to plant them. Should I go ahead and plant some new ones ASAP? Or is it too late?

Comments (8)

  • ericwi
    10 years ago

    You can transplant raspberries in the summer, but too much sunlight is stressful to the plant. Transplanting disturbs the root system, and the plant will not be able to take up enough water at the new location, to stay hydrated. If you can rig some sort of shade, that will give the plant a chance to grow some new root hairs, and begin to grow again. Also, it helps to prune back the plant right after transplant. If it is possible and practical, raspberries do best in a location that has morning sun and some shade, or partial shade, in the afternoon.

  • GoldfinchGuy
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    One side of my yard has two hackberry trees which do provide some shade, so maybe I'll try planting them there.

    By pruning the canes back how far down should I cut them after planting them?

  • ltilton
    10 years ago

    Can you wait til fall?

  • ericwi
    10 years ago

    A raspberry plant that is dug up and moved at this time will have a better chance of survival if it is pruned back to about 1/2 original size. All fruit and flowers should be pruned off. If possible, transplant in overcast weather, light rain is OK. If the weather is sunny, it helps to transplant in the late afternoon/evening. Providing shade or partial shade will reduce wilting when the sun is high.

  • Kevin Reilly
    10 years ago

    I don't see a reason to wait, since you have a free supply of them. Plant some now, if they don't take, plant some in a few weeks, etc etc.

  • GoldfinchGuy
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    ltilton, I would wait but I fear that my sister will have the plants cleared out by next spring. Instead of going to a garden center and paying for plants which may not even survive, I'd rather just take three or four mature canes from her for free.
    I will be planting the new raspberries on the opposite side of the yard where my hackberry trees provide some shade throughout the day. After work tomorrow I will be picking them up and planting them sometime in the evening.

  • 2ajsmama
    10 years ago

    I'd take some primocanes (green ones) instead of/along with the mature ones, that way you'll have berries next year.

    Just wondering - why was the neighbor in your yard and why didn't you know he'd stepped on it til later?

  • GoldfinchGuy
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I definitely took primocanes. All four plants are planted and pruned. I even threw in some compost for good measure. Hoping that by this time next year I have some sweet juicy raspberries for my family.

    On a side note I found that my sister has an elderberry bush in her yard which will sadly be removed as well. If only I could take it with me.

    The raspberry plant that got destroyed was next to a gate that was built into the fence on the lot line. The neighbor uses this gate to access the part of his garage which doesn't extend to the lot line, and is not gated. I had found footprints which led from the crushed raspberry plant to the gate. Whether it was done accidentaly or intentionally I can't say, but a couple times I did see him cast some disaproving looks at the plants.

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