I just love black raspberry pie so I've planted some black raspberry bushes. I need some advice about pruning them, however. I prune out old wood that has fruited at the end of July, after the crop is finished. Then I prune again when the canes get long and "whippy," usually in late August or early Sept. In the Spring, I prune off dead wood but nothing else. Am I doing it correctly? I worry that I prune off fruiting canes in the Spring.

According to my book, Thin out extra canes and prune side branches, in late winter, remove any canes damaged by cold. In early summer Top new black raspberries to encourage branching. Once you have harvested the berries cut the canes that bore fruit off flush with the ground. This is for summer bearing black raspberries only.

I understand that red and black raspberries are nearly the same. (If I'm wrong, stop reading now).

Here's what I do with my red raspberries:

-after fruiting cut out second year wood - they only fruit on second year wood, and once it's had fruit on it, it dies.

In the fall/winter - Thin remaining canes to about 15 per 1 metre (or 3 feet) of row for maximum fruit bearing.

Mine only branch out in the second year, regardless of whether I top them or not, so I quit topping them to give me that much more cane to produce fruit on. I know they HAVE to top them in warmer climates (like in British Columbia) or else they grow too tall to manage. I don't have that problem.

Note, if the canes have less than 20 nodes on them, they won't produce any fruit, so chop out any of those you see in the fall or winter to give the energy to the rest.

Like I said before, this is for red raspberries, but the black ones around here (growing wild) look the same as the red in all aspects except berry colour.

Please eat a piece of pie for me too!

"... one is nearer God's heart in a garden than any place else on earth."

I grow gold, red, and black raspberries and have found the pruning requirements differ for all three. In January or February, I prune all the canes of the gold raspberries ("Goldie") to the ground. For the red, I remove canes that have fruited after the crop has finished (in early August, if there's time, but I often don't do this until Winter). I only remove dead wood/canes for the red raspberries in the Spring. The black raspberries are much more vigorous and require more pruning/caning than the red or gold. Except for pruning, raspberries are really easy to grow and well worth the small amount of effort required. Also, gold and red can grow side by side but I've been advised to keep the black raspberries at a distance (mine are planted on the other side of the house).

This might sound amazingly dumb, so bear with me, please. How can you tell the already-fruited canes from the new ones?

I have one lonely Ollalieberry (75% black 25% red) and it's only 18 months or so old. It might fruit this summer, because this is the first time the canes have really gotten numerous or long since I planted it.

Is it possible to train a plant so that the fruiting canes are all on the top trellis wire and the new ones are on the bottom wire so I can tell which is which?

This plant is growing up a central post that is connected to 2 end posts by heavy gauge wires on different "levels."

Thanks!

You can tell which canes have fruited (for red or black raspberries) by the color of the cane. The old ones 'look' old and dry. With gold raspberries, it doesn't matter since you cut all the canes to the ground.

I've never heard of an Ollalieberry so can't comment on its pruning requirements. Sorry! Where did you find this unusual plant?

If you're interested, I've posted my recipe for black raspberry pie in the Recipe Forum.

An Olallieberry is a hybrid developed in Southern California from a 100% blackberry plant and a 50/50 blackberry/red raspberry plant. It's been around here since the 40's or 50's and it's really common to see pint baskets sold starting in July.

The taste is mostly blackberry with a bit of tang and it makes the most fabulous pie or conserves.

My orchid/rose neighbor with the triple greenhouse gave me a sucker off one of his plants in 2002 and it's doing well. I think I'm going to harvest fruit this year and I can't wait!!

-nita