Question:
Is it necessary to prune raspberries in summer?Answer:
Pruning raspberries in summer helps control diseases. It also helps maximize next year’s crop.
After the last summer harvest, promptly remove the old fruiting canes of red, purple, and black raspberries at the soil surface. To help reduce disease problems, the pruned material should be removed from the garden and destroyed.
Pinch out or cut off the shoot tips of black and purple raspberries when the new growth reaches a height of 36 to 48 inches. Remove the top three to four inches of the shoots. Removal of the shoot tips encourages lateral shoot development and increases the fruiting surface area, resulting in higher yields.
Since the new shoots will reach the specified height at different times, go over the planting approximately once each week between late May and late July. Discontinue shoot tip removal at the end of July. Canes that develop after July are small, weak, and unproductive. These small, weak canes can be pruned out the following spring.