Can You Dig up a Raspberry Bush in the Early Spring to Transplant?

Time Frame

• Schedule digging up dormant raspberry shrubs in your garden for late winter to early spring once frost leaves the ground. Dig and transplant the raspberries just before any buds swell and leaves emerge, as this is a sign the roots are actively growing. Immediately transplanting the raspberry plants prevents any root death. This allows the roots time to grow back and establish before the onset of summer heat. Dig up as large of a root ball as possible, enough for a substantial root system but not too much soil making lifting and moving the plant difficult.

Regional Insight

• Raspberries grow in temperate climates, as they need cool-to-cold winter dormancy for blooming and bearing fruit. Although some cultivars are more cold tolerant or better suited for warmer summer regions, raspberries generally hardy only in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 8. Plants in milder winter zones, such as zones 7 and 8, leave winter dormancy earlier than in colder areas. Expect to transplant raspberry plants in late February to mid-March. Farther north, the transplanting season is later, such as in late March to mid-April.

Handling Plants

• Raspberry plants produce canes that live for only 2 years. After a cane fruits, it dies. When you dig up your raspberry plants in early spring, you'll see brown, flexible, year-old canes as well as the grayish, dead and brittle canes from last year. Prune the dead canes with a hand pruner so that stubs 2 inches tall remain. Then, cut back the living year-old stems --- these bloom and fruit this coming summer -- to 24 to 36 inches tall. Hold these canes upright and loosely tie them with twine. This keeps the canes out of the way during the transplant, allowing you to better dig and move the plants without breaking canes or breaking any buds.

Planting Tips

• Plant the dug raspberries in a new location at the same depth they grew. Look for the soil stain line on the plants to guide you how deep to plant. Planting too deep leads to root and stem rot, as well as diminished flowering. Since raspberries are susceptible to many soilborne diseases, the new planting site for the raspberries should not be where strawberries or raspberries previously grew. Avoid garden soil where eggplant, tomato, pepper or potato grew, as the risk of the verticillium fungus in the soil remains high for 5 years after removing those vegetable crops.

Alternative Date

• If early spring isn't a convenient time for digging and transplanting your raspberries, do not do it later in spring or summer once leaves are present. The next opportune time is fall, immediately after frosts occur and most of the leaves have dropped away.