Discovered raspberries (or perhaps loganberries), what to do?
thecatsmother
Posts: 139
Hi all, some may remember from my posts over the past couple of weeks that we've just bought a house with a very well planned/planted but recently neglected garden. I'm discovering more and more to make me 
. Up the top of the garden we have a biiiig plum tree, a much smaller plum tree (well I presume it's plum, fruits look the same as the big one), and 2 apple trees. Around the edge of that section are various hedging plants (overgrown), and quite a few brambles. A few weeks ago thecatsfather and I started to attack the hedging and brambles. I left a few branches of bramble cos these few in particular had lots of dead flowers/baby blackberries (or so I thought) so I decided to wait and harvest these before cutting it back in the winter.
Yesterday I was showing a friend around the garden (she helped me identify a few more plants 
) and I discovered that the berries on the "brambles" I'd left were in fact turning red, and are in fact either raspberries or loganberries. I pulled at one of the stalks and it seems to have grown into the ground at its tip. The others I lifted more into the sun (nothing was supported, they were all just flumphing along the ground or just above). I know the berries may not be great this year if no pruning's been done for a while, but what's the best plan of attack for rescuing this plant for next year? I read a bit online and see there are 2 main types. Some of the berries are turning red but most are still hard green, so not entirely sure if it's a late cropping summer one (late owing to shade 
) or an autumn one. When should I prune? How should I prune? Should I support the stems?
Thanks for any advice
Posts
raspberry canes generally grow upright even if they arnt tied in could you put a picture on
These are 10ft+ long so no way strong enough to grow upright without support (they emerge from the ground upright but soon curve over and flop along horizontally). They have no thorns. The fruits are quite hard (even the red ones) and probably won't be great this year, presumably cos of no rain for 3 weeks. So, what to do with them wrt pruning/support/ongoing care, inoput appreciated
If the stems are smooth, then it's probably Tayberry "Buckingham". If the stems have soft spines like hairs, then it could be a Loganberry or Japanese wineberry. No matter which, it needs to be grown with a support structure. You can put a couple of strong stakes at either end and run wires between them then tie each stem onto a wire. The alternative is to use a piece of trellis about 2m long and 1m high and tie the stems to the trellis. All of these blackberry/raspberry hybrids will root at the tips if they are allowed to touch the ground. Nice find!
On further rummaging I've found that there is wire running between the fence posts just behind the tay/logan/wineberry (you can see one strand of it in the 2nd pic), so all I need to do is clear the surrounding weeds and attach the stems along the wire
. Stupid question but do I take a stem up to a wire then attach the stem along the wire horizontally, or should the stems just go up vertically being attached to each wire as they pass it (and then get pruned at the level of the top of the fence)? 
Try and make a fan shape if you can.
Edit: here's some training and pruning advice from the RHS:
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=93
Oh that is great - exactly the info I wanted - thanks
n.b. absolutely no spines at all on the canes - they are quite woody and very smooth, so you'd be thinking it's Tayberry "Buckingham" then?
Buckingham is the only tayberry I know which has no thorns, so likely if it is indeed a tayberry. There are quite a few raspberry/blackberry hybrids though, so it could well be something else! If you are lucky you might find a label when you do the weeding etc. Tayberries can be quite tart in taste and are often better cooked than eaten raw, so give it a taste when fully ripe. They also don't come away from the core as easily as raspberries when you pick them, another way of distinguishing what it is.
OK I spent a few scratchy hours in the garden today sorting the tayberry. LOts of weeds, grass and brambles (hence forearms shredded
) to get rid of first, and then to tackle the revealed tayberry plant. Last year's fruiting canes hadn't been touched so I cut them off at the base, and then separated the fruiting and growing ones.
Before:
After (new canes clumped on the left, fruiting ones spread out attached to wire on the right. Not perfect I know but looks a darn sight better than it did
Looks like you've done a great job with it. Plenty of new canes for next year too, so I think you've earned a plant paramedic badge there!
Ooo you're getting me all excited about moving. In less than three weeks time I'm moving to a house with a less well planned and neglected garden. Hoping I'll find some equally as lovely plants to rescue