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I planted raspberry canes last autumn which have grown well and produced a good crop this year. Some of the canes have grown to 7 or 8 feet and are dangling over the fence into a neighbour's garden.

Can these be safely cut back at this time of year? (early autumn, UK)

bstpierre
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Twisted
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    Related: [Pruning raspberries and boysenberries in early summer](http://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/799/pruning-raspberries-boysenberries-in-early-summer), [How do I maintain a Raspberry plant?](http://gardening.stackexchange.com/q/1621/394) – Lorem Ipsum Sep 08 '11 at 19:40

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I live in Manchester, your neck of the woods, and have summer-bearing raspberry canes. I usually prune out the fruited canes to ground level in late summer/ early autumn, and the new canes always produce a good crop the following year; in fact, autumn pruning is recommended by the Royal Horticultural Society - see How do I maintain a Raspberry plant? Pruning out those long fruited canes now is not likely to cause the plants any harm at all.

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Mancuniensis
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  • Thanks, when you & the rhs say "fruited canes" do you mean the whole plant back to ground level or is there a bit I should be leaving alone? – Twisted Sep 09 '11 at 12:32
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    @Twisted: Glad this helps. *Only" the canes that have produced fruit this year should be pruned out; the new (young) ones that have not borne fruit should be retained, as these are the ones that will fruit next summer. – Mancuniensis Sep 09 '11 at 13:09