My Raspberry beds full of bind weed and butter cups how can I get rid of them ? I thought about once they finish fruiting ( Autumn Bliss) was to cut them down earlier than normal and spray the beds with a weed killer , my thoughts were as theres no green leaves on the canes the weed killer wont hurt them ? ( The plants were planted 8 years ago ) or do I move them to another bed Any advise please ?
The weed killer will still kill if it gets on the stems. If you can't face moving them you can spray like this.
Buy a large size water bottle and remove the bottom. Place over weeds and spray through narrow end, wait a few minutes for spray to dry and be careful of drips when you move on to spray the next bit.
That way you are sure none goes on the raspberry stems.
The opposite could be true! That is protect the raspberry cane/s with a plastic tube then spray the weeds.
If using this method it might be better doing it after pruning or in Spring just as the weeds and canes are starting into growth.
In terms of tubing you could get some ideas here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Tree+Protectors (https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Tree+Protectors)
Another way I have seen done with bindweed is to bunch it together without breaking it and place in a plastic bag and spray into the bag then twist-tie it so the weed and weedkiller stays inside the bag. Hope you get some success whichever way you try....
I would make a small amount of Glyphosate mixture at triple strength, and with a half inch paintbrush apply it to the weeds. You don't have to paint each leaf, just 2 or 3 on each stem.
Works for me!
I won't use chemicals on anything I'm going to eat. I cleared my raspberry bed (didn't let it get like that - it was a mess when I bought the land) by hand, forking out the couch and bindweed and buttercup. It took a couple of seasons to be clear, and now 4 years later I need to go over it again, but the crop has been wonderful this year despite the bit of bindweed that has returned. I know not everyone can do this, just wanted to say that it works if you can do it.
I also have a raspberry bed full of bindweed and grass despite clearing it as best I could and mulching before planting 3 years ago. I'm snapping the tops of the bindweed off as I pick the fruit. It seems to be fruiting as well as ever but I'll have to have another go when i cut them back.
Yes the canes are fruiting great but weeds look unsightly,I might try putting a bottomless florist bucket around the raspberries and spray the weeds once the berries are cut down I too don't like spraying near to any thing I eat but as the weed killer I got supposed to disperse on contact with the soil I thought it would be safe
Painting it on would be easier and it wont touch the canes or the soil!
i had a problem the same as yours i just kept at it every day at first pulling up the bind weed then twice a week then once a week now 3 years later its once a month oh and this week ill start removing this years spent summer canes not looking forward to it on bit as i tie each cane 4 times on four wires it takes a while i can tell you hope this helps
I have raspberries on clay soil on the plot and I have a difficult job trying to keep the area fairly clean of weeds. There is no defined area. I put suckers into two raised beds both 4 x 8 and they, polka, are loving those areas, yesterday I picked raspberries three times the size of those in the clay. I am figuring that I can cope better with kneeling and hand weeding in the raised beds as I have boundaries. That is the downside to autumn raspberries. I used to grow a lot of summer raspberries, in a large fruit cage, they were so much easier, particularly when I kept a few chickens in there. No weed stood a chance. All I had to do was cut, tie and pick