When to prune raspberries?

Many summer residents grow raspberries on their plots. This is one of the most delicious and loved by many berries. But to get a good harvest, you need to properly care for the bushes, and it is very important to know when to prune your raspberries. It depends on pruning how the bushes will grow, and how many berries can be picked in the future.

When gardeners are just taking their first steps, at first they make mistakes. Someone seeks to cut shrubs only in the fall, someone only in the spring. Some choose the wrong months, or cut the shrub too often. In order not to harm the plant, you need a middle ground.

If the gardener is responsible and passionate about this activity, then the question of when is the best time to prune is not even worth it. Both in the fall and in the spring, this procedure is necessarily carried out. Spring and autumn pruning has different goals, but this must be done, like the main care. The month of this manipulation depends on the region in which the raspberry grows.

• Autumn... Cut off the bushes after fruiting. Raspberries are cut, leaving 25-50 cm from the ground. All old and diseased shoots must be removed. After harvesting, the bushes are slowly prepared for winter. Therefore, sanitary pruning is essential. Young shoots are left, bent to the ground, then covered. But this is all for the northern regions. In the south, all these manipulations are unnecessary. They just prune, remove all unnecessary, remove weeds. And in this state, raspberries hibernate.

• Spring... At this time of the year, even before the onset of the growing season, you should very carefully examine the bushes and pay attention to pruning, especially if for some reason it was not done in the fall. During the winter, in any case, certain changes will occur to the plant. Some branches will dry up, freeze. After the raspberry has been opened, you need to assess its condition. Dry non-viable branches are removed immediately, and then, so that there are many new shoots, you need to pinch the tops of the bushes, then side branches will soon appear. The tops, by the way, can be slightly trimmed even in the summer. As for the young growth in spring, here gardeners recommend getting rid of it. This year, these bushes will not give a crop, but juices will be taken from the main plant, which will definitely not do him any good. If there is a desire to propagate raspberries, then it is better to transplant the shoots to another place.

You need to trim raspberries, taking into account the characteristics of the region where they grow.

For example, in the Moscow region, autumn pruning should be carried out in early October. In spring, the time when you need to shorten the bushes is at the end of April. If the spring is very warm, you can do it in the middle of the month.

In the Kuban, in warm weather, the crop is harvested several times, especially if the raspberry is remontant. It produces crops even at the beginning of December. Pruning is also done during the season. If dry or diseased branches appear, they must be removed in a timely manner, do not wait for the end of fruiting. The final pruning is carried out when the plant has ceased to bear fruit. This most often occurs in November.

In Siberia, the situation is somewhat different.Frosts come much earlier, already in October, the air temperature decreases markedly by the end of September. Therefore, the beginning and middle of the month is a high time to complete all the work on pruning raspberries. In the spring, rejuvenating and sanitary pruning is done at the end of May. In very dry warm weather, you can postpone this procedure to the middle of the month.

Gardeners have their own tricks to get more crops, their advice is worth listening to.

• After spring pruning in June-July, you still need to shorten the branches.... This will stimulate the growth of new shoots, which means that the yield will be even greater.

• Another trick to increase yields, - cut the shoots to different lengths: shorten some by 50 cm, others by 25, and still others by 15. So the berries will ripen gradually. The longest shoots will be the first to bear fruit.

• It is imperative to work on the thickening of the bush.... This applies to both regular and old raspberries. Raspberries grow very quickly in the garden. Therefore, you need to pay attention to new bushes: stronger and already well-developed bushes can be left, but it is better to remove small shoots.

And besides, there are some very simple tips that you should follow with any pruning.

• All manipulations for shortening shoots, as well as eliminating old dry branches are made only in sunny dry weather.

• The pruner must be disinfected before work. And he, of course, has to be sharp. An old rusty tool can not only damage the plant, but also introduce an infection. At the end of the work, the tools are also processed and removed to a specially designated place for this.

• The cut is made neatly, without any chipping and protruding bark. You can process the cut with a garden pitch.

• All diseased old shoots should be burned or discarded. They can develop various diseases that easily spread to healthy young bushes.

If you follow all the rules for pruning, and follow the basic simple care measures, you can get a very good harvest.