[debih]

I havent really seen anyone on the allotment to ask yet.  

I had a good look at them today.  They are probably about 6ft high and dont seem to have many berries on them now.

The berries that they do have are past their best (although some are still ripe enough to eat) and lots have fallen to the floor.  

I am assuming that they are summer fruiting rather than autumn.  Here come the questions:

Do I just cut the old wood back to ground level.
How do I know which is the old and which is the new?
When do I do this?
I dont think they were done last year so do I need to do anything different?

[Trillium]

For summer fruiters, old wood is the darkest wood, often a brownish colour to dark brown. Quite different from new wood which is all bright green with no fruit buds on it.
Anytime now on is good to cut down those fruiting canes and other old ones. That will be a lot for an old patch so don't try to thin new ones this year. Cut the old ones down close to the ground and dispose. In later winter you can add compost and/or old manure, or do it very early spring. This will aid new growth and give the berries flavour.
Other than that, that's it for any year. Some folk like to tie the canes to lateral fencing which you can do next year once you're sure that you indeed have summer fruiters.

[crackedflowerpots]

i have raspberries (summer fruiting) i cut the dead wood (and it really does look like wood) right back as far as i can, the new green fleshy growth (which will produce next years raspberries) i tie to a trellis fence (that i made out of canes to the height of 5 or 6 feet) i have grown them along the fence and up the fence and havent noticed a difference in taste or size of crop but i have had trouble reaching the 6 ft raspberries (coz im a shortie )
good luck with them!
by the way next year you can carry on tying this years growth as it grows to keep it tidy but i would leave 2009's new growth loose until you cut down the old raspberries (which are this years raspberries :roll:  im confusing myself now   )

[Beetroot queen]

I am confused  :?
We picked up a load of plants not knowing what they were as the garden center had reduced them. no labels and no help LOL but they were cheap. :oops:

we mixed them all up (thinking that was a bad idea now) some have fruited this summer they only went in earlier this year and some I am sure are late ones.

But what do I do now with them, some I think are dead but am I wrong as they have just stayed as a cane  :? should I be leaving them as is the first year.