Plant techniques
Identify raspberry canes before pruning
Identify summer-fruiting floricane or autumn-fruiting primocane raspberries.
When to do it
After fruiting or during dormancy, according to the cultivar and crop system.
What you need
- Variety record
- Clean secateurs and gloves
- Soft ties
How to do it
- Identify summer-fruiting floricane or autumn-fruiting primocane raspberries. If unknown, label canes that fruit this season before deciding what to cut.
- For ordinary summer-fruiting types, cut the canes that have just fruited down near ground level. Keep healthy new canes for next season.
- Tie retained new canes to supports with space between them; remove weak or crowded surplus growth appropriately.
- For a simple single autumn crop from a known primocane variety, cut all canes to ground level during dormancy before new growth. A double-crop system needs different pruning and is not this method.
- Clear cut canes, check ties and record the system. Do not cut all unknown raspberry canes on the assumption they are primocanes.
What success looks like
- The canes retained match the variety’s next fruiting cycle.
Watch out for
- Removing next year’s summer-fruiting canes.
- Mixing single- and double-crop instructions.
Plant guides using this technique
Raspberry
Cultivated raspberry canes for cool and temperate gardens.
Related help
Make a clean pruning cut and choose what to remove
Identify the plant and its flowering or fruiting wood before cutting.
Check supports and tie in climbing plants
Give growing stems support without squeezing or rubbing them.
Sources and review
Checked 24 September 2026. Source-checked editorial guidance; not field-tested or independently reviewed by a horticulturist.