Pruning - Raspberries

I know most people despise pruning raspberries but it is one of my favourite things to prune.  I think most people don't like it because they don't know how to do it (and possibly because they're not trellised well.  My fruit productions professor at school just made it so easy to understand and I really like the low risk factor in pruning raspberries.  It would be really hard to prune an established stand and do any kind of damage.  This is a great quick overview of pruning raspberries (both summer and fall bearing).  

A few other things to keep in mind is:

• They are very tough so pruning them first thing in the spring helps to ease the pressure from your other gardening tasks later in the season.
• Get good tough gloves that can withstand the thorns and w​ear long sleeves.
• ​Once all the dead canes have been removed, keep the 5 strongest canes per meter (or yard).  This allows for good airflow and seems to make harvesting better (in my opinion).

As also mentioned in the Pruning Haskaps post.  

1.  Prune with clean and sharp pruners.
2.  Keep a disinfectant in a spray bottle handy.  A 10% solution of bleach or rubbing alcohol works well to spray on between bushes.
3.  Always begin with the 3Ds of pruning...Dead (although that is usually the main point of pruning raspberries), Diseased, Damaged and then move on to thinning.

​On May 10, 2025, we are hosting the Ardrossan Recreation and Agriculture Society in conjunction with the Strathcona County Library Bookmobile for a pruning workshop.  If you're looking for some hands on information on pruning, come join us at 10:00 on the farm.