Pruning Raspberries

I know I'm risking any ideas of being an authority on gardening because of this post. Pruning raspberries in January? uh-oh.

But if you won't mind bearing with me, I promise to direct you to the proper authorities on Summer and Ever bearing raspberries.

In the meanwhile, this is the why and what for of my madness, and it carries a one-two punch, look out!

This is a partial row of my raspberries right now. They are a pretty healthy mix of Summer and Ever bearing raspberries. Don't ask me why they are mixed, it don't make no sense a'tall!

I trim back the top gangly part of the canes to keep them from whipping around in the winter weather. I also like to portion out some of the gardening chores through out the year instead of being hit with the whole shebang in Spring.

I only whack them down to a bit over knee height and so far with this practice, they haven't incurred any damage, yet. That of course might be largely attributable to our temperate Pacific Northwest climate, and not the commonsense of this cottage woman.

Here is the after photo of those same raspberries.

The double punch is this-

First: My weird pruning timetable helps ease my gardening chores into a manageable size through out the year.

Second: Those top trimmings are a much needed addition to the compost pile at this soggy time of year. And my raspberries aren't any worse for wear!

That's a knock-out in my book.

The trimmings are recycled back into the compost pile, adding a layer of carbon and creating air space within the pile to keep those soil microbes active and happily doing their job of making beautiful rich soil.

Madness or just plum good common sense, I'll let you be the judge.

Or you can find authoritative advice on pruning raspberries at About.Com