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Notebook · Guide 1 October 2026 · Grow your own

Pruning raspberries: summer-fruiting or autumn-fruiting decides everything

Summer raspberries are cut after picking; autumn raspberries are cut to the ground in February. How to tell which you have, and the double-crop trick.

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Side-by-side: on the left a summer-fruiting raspberry row in July with brown woody canes carrying ripe red berries and fresh green canes growing alongside; on the right an autumn-fruiting row in September with only green canes, fruiting at the tops.
1Summer-fruiting (left) has old brown fruiting canes plus new green ones. Autumn-fruiting (right) fruits on this year's canes.

Raspberries are the easiest fruit to prune and the easiest to get catastrophically wrong, because the two types are pruned in completely opposite ways. Cut a summer-fruiting row to the ground in February and you've just removed this year's entire crop. So, the one question first.

In pictures

  1. A summer-fruiting raspberry row after harvest: the old brown fruited canes cut down to ground level (stubs at soil), and six to eight strong green new canes per plant tied evenly along two horizontal wires.
    2Summer-fruiting after picking: old canes cut to the ground, the best new canes tied in.
  2. An autumn-fruiting raspberry patch in February with all canes cut down flush to ground level, the cut canes lying in a neat pile to one side, and tiny new buds just visible at the soil.
    3Autumn-fruiting in February: every cane cut to the ground.
  3. Close-up of raspberry cane tops in February: a cane growing above the top wire with a dashed line marking a cut at a bud about 10cm above the wire.
    4In February, tip canes about 10cm above the top wire.

01First: which raspberry have you got?

  • Summer-fruiting — fruits in early to midsummer on canes that grew the previous year. So at any time there are two kinds of cane: this year's fruiting canes and next year's new ones.
  • Autumn-fruiting — fruits from late summer into autumn on canes that grew this year.

Not sure? Look at when it fruited this year. Or look at the row now: if the canes that fruited are going brown and woody while fresh green canes grow alongside them, you've almost certainly got a summer-fruiting variety.

02At a glance

  • Summer-fruiting: prune straight after harvest (usually July–August); tip the canes in February.
  • Autumn-fruiting: cut everything to the ground in February.
  • Time: 20–30 minutes per row.
  • Tools: secateurs, gloves, soft twine.

03Summer-fruiting: step by step

  1. After picking, cut every cane that has just fruited down to ground level.
  2. Choose the replacements. Of the new green canes, tie in the strongest — around six to eight per plant, spaced about 10cm apart along the wires.
  3. Remove the rest, along with any suckers popping up away from the row.
  4. In February, trim any canes that have grown above the top wire back to a bud about 10cm above it.

04Autumn-fruiting: step by step

  1. In February, cut every cane down to ground level. Yes, all of them.
  2. In early summer, if the new canes come up crowded, thin them to about 10cm apart.

05The double-crop trick (autumn varieties)

With some autumn-fruiting varieties — the RHS names 'Joan J' and 'Polka' — you can get a small early-summer crop as well:

  1. In February, keep the strongest six to eight canes per metre of row, and only remove their fruited tops. Cut the rest to the ground as usual.
  2. The half-pruned canes fruit again lower down in early summer; the new canes fruit in autumn.
  3. Once the half-pruned canes have fruited, cut them to the ground.

06Mistakes that cost you fruit

  • Muddling the two types. The big one.
  • Leaving too many canes. A crowded row gives smaller berries and more disease.
  • Forgetting the suckers. Raspberries wander; pull or cut stray shoots away from the row.
Save your money
Planting new? Autumn-fruiting is the low-effort choice. One cut a year, in February, everything to the ground — no choosing canes, no tying in replacements.
No special kit. Secateurs and a ball of twine do the whole job.

How we checked this

Every care and safety claim on this page is verified against horticultural and veterinary sources.

Sources: RHS — How to grow raspberries · RHS — Winter pruning soft fruit

Checked 1 October 2026. If our advice ever conflicts with the RHS, believe them and tell us.