[vegypete]

hi ya on the plot i recentley took over, there is a bed of raspberry canes amongst the weeds , as i was keen to get the rest of the plot turned over i left them till last, do i dig them up then replant, or do i clean the ground up and around them, the canes need cuting back how far above the ground do i cut them to ............pete

Edited to correct spelling of "raspberry" for search purposes

[Kajazy]

You could wait and see if they fruit this year...it would be a shame to miss out!

[TheSpartacat]

I would cut down to ground level all the canes that have clearly fruited in 2011- you'll see the calyxes where the raspberries used to be attached on the canes that show these canes have already fruited.
Regardless of whether its an Autumn fruiting or a Summer fruiting, you would be cutting these canes out that have already borne fruit.

If you still have a lot of shoots with no calyxes on them, then you probably have a Summer fruiting variety which will then form fruit on these 'new' canes.
If all the canes have calyxes, its probably an Autumn variety which fruits on new canes every year, so chop them all to ground level and mulch- they'll come back and you'll be harvesting raspberries this Autumn!

Logical? (waits for a raspberry expert to point out any errors...)

You'll probably get a better idea if they need replanting or thinning once you've pruned them. I'd be tempted to not move them this year, until you know what you're dealing with. They might be a variety you don't like the taste of, and you might want to start from scratch.

[sunshineband]

I agree with your logic here Spartacat, especially the bit where you say wait and see what they taste like 

Pete, once the canes are thinned out a bit, you can probably get out the majprity of the weeds amongst them. If not, keep it cut s much as possible until you decide what to do

[vegypete]

hi ya  thanks for the advice on the rasbery canes, i will weed along the rows of canes first to see what i have, then cut them down then mulch with compost............