Question:
Can I prune my red raspberries back to the ground in late fall?Answer:
The growth and fruiting characteristics of raspberries are unique. The plant’s roots and crown are perennial, while the stems or canes are biennial. A raspberry plant may survive and produce fruit for many years. However, individual canes live only two years and then die.
There are two types of red raspberries. Summer-bearing red raspberries are strictly vegetative during the first growing season. The following year, these same canes flower, produce fruit, and then die.
The growth and fruiting characteristics of fall-bearing red raspberries are slightly different. Fall-bearing varieties naturally produce two crops. The first crop is produced in late summer or early fall at the tips of the current season’s growth. The following year, a summer crop is produced on the lower portions of these same canes. After the second crop, the canes die.
Many gardeners with fall-bearing red raspberries prune them back to the ground in late fall or early spring. Doing so eliminates the summer crop, but allows the late summer/early fall crop to mature 1 to 2 weeks earlier. In addition, total crop yields are larger utilizing the one-crop system versus the two-crop system.
Summer-bearing red raspberries should not be pruned back to the ground in late fall or early spring. Pruning summer-bearing red raspberries back to ground level will eliminate the following season’s crop.