How to Grow Raspberries on a Trellis

• 1

  Choose a site with well-drained, loamy soil and full sun.

• 2

  Kill all perennial weeds in the year before planting.

• 3

  In the summer or fall that precedes planting, add two or three bushels of an organic fertilizer such as manure, compost or peat moss per 100 square feet and rototill to incorporate into the soil.

• 4

  Test the soil pH and add ground limestone if pH is below 5; an ideal pH is between 5.8 and 6.5.

• 5

  Before planting, add a pound of 12-12-12 fertilizer per 100 square feet and rototill the site.

• 6

  Set up your trellis system.

• 7

  Plant your raspberry in early spring, placing roots no more than two inches below the ground; cover roots with soil, press down firmly and water, then cut canes to six inches.

• 8

  Establish a hedgerow system for growing your raspberries; place individual plants in rows, allowing two to three feet between each plant in a single row and six to 10 feet between rows.

• 9

  Ensure plants receive one inch of water every week and keep them free from weeds.

• 10

  Add four to six lbs. of 10-20-20 fertilizer per 100 square feet in early spring when growth begins.

• 11

  Harvest fruit when berries separate easily from the core; pick every three or four days.

• 12

  After harvesting is complete, remove old floricanes; in winter, remove damaged or diseased canes, narrowing rows to 15 inches wide and leaving only the four or five strongest canes in every foot of a row.

• 13

  Cut remaining canes to just under six feet tall and tie to trellis with twine.

To Build a Trellis

• 14

  Place wood or metal posts at the ends of each row; bury at least two feet deep, leaving about five feet of post above the ground.

• 15

  Nail a three-foot-long cross arm near the top of each post and run heavy-gauge wire between the ends of each cross arm.

• 16

  Attach another wire to each side of the post at a height of 30 inches, for a total of four wires running along every row.