[teflon]

I've inherited some rasberry canes on my plot &i've been told that they can be grown horizontaly.The advice given was "just bend 'em over & tie 'em to a frame, if they break it dont matter 'cos they didnt cost you * all ".
  Now i'm very gratefull for any free advice,but is there a fool proof method of doing this without any chance of breaking the canes?
  Thanks in advance.
  Tel.

[SG6]

Wasn't sure but:
Seems that there is a raspberry training method called The Scandinavian System.
(Also you can grow blackberries horizontally and they are all cane fruit and related)

Reading for both I would say that the raspberries grow vertically until 3ft then are tied into horizontal wires. 3 ft seem to be the lowest height described for the horizontal wires.

Guess that the tying in needs to be done when still green and bendable as the older canes become woody and will not bend so easily.

Suspect that the idea being tie one years growth one way then the next years growth the other. Thus separating the annual growth and making pruning of "old" canes easier.

[Babstreefern]

I've seen raspberry canes on other plots (I personally don't like raspberries ), and they have 4/5 ft wooden stakes with horizontal wires (about 2 or 3 going straightacross), then the rasp are gently bent in an s shape and trained by tying with string to keep them there.  I've inherited tayberries, and thats been done the same its bent over and each branch is interwoven.

[8doubles]

I can see the point of training blackberry that way, especially a thorned variety but is there a benefit in growing raspberries horizontally ? I get so many off the normal vertical canes that it becomes a chore to pick them .

Kev

[teflon]

Thanks for the replies
Cheers
 Tel.

[richyrich7]

Normally they are grown vertically upto the top wire about 4' ish then they are bent over to either grow along the wire or to end up looking like walking sticks
a bit like this

I know its a bad illustration, but hey ho at least you can see whats what. 

[teflon]

Well done. Thanks

[Kristen]

I'm planning to construct my Raspberry wires on a "T" shape.

T shaped post / cross bar at the end of the row, two wires - one at each end of the horizontal.

Tie the fruiting canes to the wires - so that they are played outwards, and their fruit hangs down and is easily picked from the outside.

The new, next-year, canes grow up the middle.

In the Autumn cut down the canes which have finished fruiting, and tie the canes growing freely in the middle to the outer wires.