[stainesbloke]

Hello I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice. Having recently obtained a plot, I have a row of well established raspberry bushes from the previous occupant. Trouble is, I have no idea whether they are Summer or Autumn fruiting and don't know what to do with them. They are quite big (around 3 feet tall) and have a similar spread. No leaves/old fruit that I can see. The chap next door said chop all the canes down to near ground level...what should I do? I'd like to keep them in situ for this year at least.
Thanks

[DD.]

Three feet is not that tall for any sort of raspberry!

The one thing I'd NOT do is to cut them all down. This would guarantee no fruit this year if they were summer fruiting.

You could leave them alone this year, see when they fruit and then deal with them accordingly.

[snowdrops]

You could always cut a couple of them down to hedge your bets.

[simonwatson]

No old fruit at all suggests summer fruiting. My autumn fruiting ones always have a bit of dried fruit left on. Are they starting to show any signs of growth at the base. If not, this would again suggest summer fruiting as they tend to start their new growth later.

The only sure way to tell is to wait and see, unless you can find a plot neighbour that knows.

Keeping them as canes won't do any harm if they are autumn fruiting. You might get a small early crop of fruit on the old canes, but it won't be anything to write home about.

[compostqueen]

I'd take with a pinch of salt some of the advice given by fellow plotters. I was told to grub out all the rasps on my plot as they were diseased.  They were the healthiest plants I'd ever seen. They still are five years on   

It will soon become apparent what they are but they will all be delicious    I'd just tidy them up, weed around their feet, get some air flowing round their centres and feed them with some slow release fertiliser such as bfb
You can mulch your rasps with manure but I'd wait until they're growing away as you don't want to be feeding the foliage

You could plant some new canes too. They have a mixed pack in W*lko cheap as chips 

[JohnB47]

Definitely do not cut or prune them at all before the summer is out.

I've just had my first full cycle of a summer variety -  Tulameen and here's what I've observed.

My bushes each now have a collection of two types of stem. Firstly single stems, with no branching stems, that have buds all the way up that are firm to the touch. Some buds are even opening. Next, some stems that have little branching stems near the top. These branching stems are very pale brown and are papery - like pieces of soft straw. These stems are also more woody compared to the others.

The single stems with firm buds are this summers fruiting stems and must not be touched. The stems with little papery projecting stems near the top are last summers fruiting stems and can be cut down to the ground.

This might sound complicated but it's dead easy when you see it for the first time.

But to repeat, if you're not sure, leave them alone.

Good luck.

[richy]

Leave alone until next winter, see what happens.

[stainesbloke]

Definitely do not cut or prune them at all before the summer is out.

I've just had my first full cycle of a summer variety -  Tulameen and here's what I've observed.

My bushes each now have a collection of two types of stem. Firstly single stems, with no branching stems, that have buds all the way up that are firm to the touch. Some buds are even opening. Next, some stems that have little branching stems near the top. These branching stems are very pale brown and are papery - like pieces of soft straw. These stems are also more woody compared to the others.

The single stems with firm buds are this summers fruiting stems and must not be touched. The stems with little papery projecting stems near the top are last summers fruiting stems and can be cut down to the ground.

This might sound complicated but it's dead easy when you see it for the first time.

But to repeat, if you're not sure, leave them alone.

Good luck.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply so helpfully!
I've just had a decent look at the canes. Many are 5 feet +, there are lots of strong, unbranched shoots that are green/brown in colour and are budding all the way down. There are also darker, older looking shoots with small branchlets, they are a bit shorter and show no buds. I cut a few of these older looking shoots and they are all dead. So, are my raspberries summer fruiting? Shall I just cut out the old dead shoots and weed/feed the rest? Thank u!

[noshed]

I'd just tidy them up a bit as others have advised. Cut out anything actually dead and weed around them, Tie them in to some sort of support and see what happens. I'm sure there's plenty of other things on the plot which will need attention!