How to Plant & Grow Raspberries

Select an area that will give your raspberries full sunlight, although slight shade is tolerable. Make sure the soil is well-drained, so avoid low-lying areas when planting raspberries in your garden, according to the University of Maine. You can also grow raspberries in containers.

Choose an area that was not used to grow eggplant, potatoes, peppers or tomatoes within the past four years -- these crops carry verticillium, a root rot that can harm raspberries. Cut down any wild raspberry plants that are within 600 feet of your gardening area to prevent the spread of viral diseases from these wild plants.

Take a sample of your planting soil to your local county cooperative extension office, which will help you determine the soil's pH and fertility levels. Raspberries grow best in soil with a pH level of 6.0 to 6.5. Apply ground limestone to acid soils if the soil test results indicate this need.

Mix compost or cover crops such as millet or buckwheat into your raspberry plot's soil to boost the amount of organic material.

Dig holes in the garden soil for your raspberry starter plants that are spaced 2 to 2 1/2 inches apart. Space rows seven and eight feet apart. Put a plant in each hole and cover the root ball with no more than 3 inches of soil. If planting in containers, fill the pots about one-third to one-half full of potting soil mix. Place one plant in each container and cover the root ball with no more than 3 inches of soil.

Water the raspberry plants using a soaker hose or watering can at a rate of 1 to 2 inches of water each week. Apply all-purpose 10-10-10 fertilizer to the soil each month, following the fertilizer product manufacturer's instructions.

Bury a 6-foot post an inch into the ground at the end of each row of raspberries, and fasten 30-inch crossbars with sturdy screws across the top and middle of each post. Stretch a length of 16-gauge wire from the ends of each crossbar. This will help to support your garden raspberry plants as they produce fruit and begin to fall over, reports the Fine Gardening website.

Prune your garden or potted raspberry plants each year when they are dormant in the early spring to remove any old, diseased or weak branches. Do this by cutting all of the canes down to about 1 inch from the ground.