[Truffle]

Hi All,

I need some advice regarding the moving of my raspberry plants. I inherited them when I got my plot  just over a year ago and they are a good size, up to chest height, so must have been there some time. I have never pruned as I was waiting to work out which are summer and which are autumn fruiting.

I tried to put "Tram" down around them to stop weed growth but it was very tricky and didnt work too well as the grass all grew up through the slits I had made in the fabric. It was a quick fix job and not done very well.

I now plan to move the raspberries to another part of the plot and reduce the amount of weeding due time restraints. My plan was to totally cover the area in tram and then make holes in which I will plant the raspberry plants. However I have been reading up and I need to spread the roots out so this kind of scuppers my plans.

Any advice would be greatly received, It would also be nice to know what other people do.

[gavinjconway]

I dont think that will work as they get cut down after fruiting and then creep along a bit and push up a new stem or two.. You will need to keep the weeds down manually - no getting away from it... my views anyway..

[Truffle]

Thanks Gavin, Never considered that, back to the drawing board me thinks.

[gavinjconway]

I was looking at mine today that I re-planted from all the ones scattered ovem my plot that I took over a year ago and they are not all in the lines that I planted them... they probably span a good 6" wide row whereas I planted a nice line.. so In a their first year they have wandered  :blink:

[angelavdavis]

I have used weed suppressing fabric around my raspberry plants.  Suckers push up and you spot the fabric being raised.  You can then carefully cut a hole for them to climb through when this happens.

[Growster...]

Why not just plant the rasps where you want them to go, spreading their roots as you want, then laying a strip of the weed suppressant down both sides of the stems?

You can hold it all down with wire 'stakes', i.e. pieces of bent wire with a hook at the top, and pushed into the soil through the weed suppressant, making sure you have an overlap in the middle.

(We don't actually bother with the grass and weeds, they don't make much headway with rasps, and can be clobbered once or twice a year when we feel like it, but if you're short of time, then that doesn't really help you...)

[SG6]

Fabric is not a good choice as they send up new canes whereever they want, they will not get through the fabric and they will not restrain themselves to rows.

Since they tend to be shallow rooted and they prefer not to dry out try bark chippings as a mulch, they will grow through this and it will held prevent the soil drying out.

Not much else I can think of.

[angelavdavis]

Hi,  I was thinking some more about your predicament and another solution would be to use wetted newspaper to suppress the weeds - using bark chips or HM compost on top to hold down the paper. 

[Truffle]

Thanks all for your advice. I am thinking strips and or wood chips. definately food for thought. Many Thanks again.

[Eblana]

I had a similar issue but also had raspberries popping up all over the plot.  I was advised by one of the guys on the plot to dig wood down into the ground around my Raspberry bed to stop them running (the roots apparently aren't very deep so they won't go under 2 - 3 inch boards) and then to mulch it well to keep the weeds and grass down.  I did this and it has worked great - still have to do some weeding but it is much lighter growth than before and the raspberries are all contained in one area.