Hi all
my raspberries were a failure last year and this year I have planted some more. I think I killed half of them them off last year, I read later they have shallow roots and I had hoed around them so I'm not sure whether that's what did it.
But I've also read I should keep them well weeded, so how does everyone manage this? I am scared I will kill this lot off too ???
What raspberries have you got? Summer or Autumn fruiting varieties?
They do need completely different treatment.
valmarg
If you can mulch them you'll keep the weeds right down. I use grass cuttings and they do a great job, keep the moisture in also. Pile them on heavy and clear it off in November or so.
I weed mine by literally lying down on the ground & hand weeding. I considering adding grass cuttings as a mulch soon to see if that helps but as I have bindweed under mine i dont want to obscure it too much or it will have more chance of establishing itself so I may not mulch & just do my 'belly' weeding regularly :D
You won't obscure bindweed, it'll come right up through the grass cuttings and stick out like a sore thumb.
I have 4 summer ones and 4 autumn. I knew they need to be pruned at different times, but still learning about the rest.
Not sure about lying on my tummy to do it crystalmoon!
The ones between me and my neighbour (91) had got infested with Docks... and Geums I took a two pronged fork to them and dug them all out... they seem to have survived, even the one I dug and translpanted by mistake!!
(Autumn Bliss if you need to know!)
I mulched round mine with two year old leaf mould that the council delivered. I kept the leaf mould lovingly for this time then mulched with it in early spring......low and behold i've got thousands of sycamore seedlings appearing and i have to pull each and everyone out...Grrrrrr!