Before you can prune raspberries, you need to know whether you have summer bearing, or everbearing raspberries - but what if you don't know which type you have? In this quick article, I'll walk you through the clues to confidently identify which type of raspberry bushes you have.
I've been doing some raspberry pruning this week, and was about to write a how-to article on pruning raspberries properly. However, raspberry pruning is something that's done differently, depending on which type of raspberry bush you have.
Any decent raspberry pruning guide has two sets of directions - one for summer-bearing raspberries, and one for everbearing (or fall-bearing) raspberries. BUT - what if you don't know which kind of raspberries you have?
I decided that the article I really needed to write first, is one that can easily walk anyone through identifying which type of raspberry bushes they have, during almost any season, so that then we can dive into pruning them with confidence.
Before I walk you through the clues for identifying which kind of raspberry canes you have, it really helps to know exactly what the difference is between how these two types of raspberries grow.
What are the different types of raspberries?
There are two major types of raspberry bushes: summer bearing (also called summer fruiting), and everbearing (also called autumn bearing, or autumn fruiting). Which type of raspberries you have, will determine how you prune them. So it's helpful to be able to tell the difference between the two types.
If you're like me, perhaps you've inherited a raspberry patch that came along with the home you purchased. Or perhaps (also like me), you misplaced the paperwork that came with raspberries you planted yourself, and the dog buried your plant markers somewhere you'll never find them. No judgement here.
The good news is, if you know what to look for, it's easy to tell the difference between summer fruiting raspberries and everbearing raspberries, just by looking at the plants.
What is the difference between summer fruiting raspberries and everbearing raspberries?
Aside from the fact implied by their names, that they bear fruit at different times of year, the key difference between summer and autumn fruiting raspberries is how they set that fruit. (This is why you'll need to prune them differently.)
Summer bearing raspberries bear fruit on the canes that grew last summer.
Everbearing raspberries bear fruit on canes that just grew this summer. They'll also usually put out a few more berries on those same canes, early in the season.
During most times of the year, it's pretty easy to identify which of these varieties you have.
How to tell the difference between summer fruiting and everbearing raspberries:
In spring: Look for canes that bore fruit last year. You will usually see some bracts and little remnants from where the berries were hanging onto the bush to help you identify canes that have already fruited.
Now that you've spotted a cane that definitely bore raspberries last year, examine it. Does it look dry and dead? If so, you probably have a summer bearing raspberry. Ever bearing raspberries generally won't look dead after bearing fruit in the fall. Instead, you'll see signs of life, like leaves, swelling leaf buds, or blossoms, as your canes prepare for putting out a last handful of berries on the lower part of these canes.
In summer: by mid-summer, it's pretty easy to tell which type you have. Summer bearing raspberries will be setting fruit on the canes that grew last year. Everbearing raspberries will be starting to form buds and flowers on fresh canes that just grew this year, and are probably still growing a bit.
In fall: If you're getting raspberries in September, you have an everbearing (autumn bearing) raspberry. Summer bearing raspberries will already have offered up their full harvest, and the canes that bore fruit will be starting to die back.
In winter: This is really when it can be hard to tell. Wait for the plants to break dormancy in the spring, and you'll easily be able to identify which type of raspberries you have then.
You can see in the photo above that this summer fruiting raspberry is starting to put out leaf buds. Here in Maine, this happens by mid April. Early spring is a great time to identify which type of raspberry bushes you have, and prune them according to what you discover!
I hope this quick guide to identifying summer-fruiting vs. everbearing raspberries has been helpful! Still not sure which type of raspberry bushes you have? Tell us about them in the comments below, and we'll try to help you sleuth it out! Happy growing!
Anna Chesley
Anna Chesley is a freelance writer living a homestead lifestyle, with a special love for family travel, old books, vintage skills, and seaside living. In addition to founding Salt In My Coffee, she runs the website, New England Family Life, as well as The 1800's Housewife, a website devoted to re-creating authentic 1800's recipes.
Anne M. Gennaria says
I’m in southeastern Pennsylvania and my summer raspberries are producing but I’m getting quite a few stalks that are growing very tall 5-6’. Should I cut or pull these out?
Thank you
Martha Rhoades says
Here in Billings, MT zone 4 I have moved into a house with a raspberry patch that is more than 5 ft tall, about 5 ft long and about 2-3 ft wide. I haven't yet looked for a cane that had berries last year and now that I know what to look for I will. We moved her the last week of August. We had very very few raspberries in September - maybe a dozen. I don't know if that means they are overcrowded or neglected everbearing or those very few berries could be the last of summer bearing. It had also put up 3 bushes in a raised bed nearby. I dug those up and gave them away. Now I see some gray canes in the middle of the bushes, and lots of droopy thin canes that are only 3-4 ft high in the front that hang over the brick pathway. The patch is against a privacy fence and looks like it is expanding on the side away from the fence. Please let me know what you think I should do. Prune out the grey canes and just watch and see what happens this year? Would they appreciate fertilizer and if so what kind. I have lots of low nitrogen fertilizer for my 200 varieties of iris but I could get other kinds of fertilizer
Tristan Olson says
I have 2 separate plants that are raspberries that I planted last year. One is growing green leaves on the wood from last year. No new green growth coming up from the ground. The second one is growing lots of new green leaves from the ground with just a few of the stalks showing some (not many) signs of green on them. I did get rid of the stalks that didn’t show any green. Is there a way to tell between raspberries that have new growth starting from the ground and raspberries that don’t?
Martha Rhoades says
I have moved into a house with a raspberry patch that is more than 5 ft tall, about 5 ft long and about 2-3 ft wide. We moved her the last week of August. We had very very few raspberries in September - maybe a dozen. I don't know if that means they are overcrowded or neglected everbearing or those very few berries could be the last of summer bearing. It had also put up 3 bushes in a raised bed nearby. I dug those up and gave them away. Now I see some gray canes in the middle of the bushes, and lots of droopy thin canes that are only 3-4 ft high in the front that hang over the brick pathway. The patch is against a privacy fence and looks like it is expanding on the side away from the fence. Please let me know what you think I should do. Prune out the grey canes and just watch and see what happens this year? Would they appreciate fertilizer and if so what kind. I have lots of low nitrogen fertilizer for my 200 varieties of iris but I could get other kinds of fertilizer
Jocelyn Spelker says
I am struggling with determining the type of raspberries I have. I have a red variety and a golden variety. The red is already showing signs of budding and the golden is not. what type am I dealing with? I want to start pruning and am afraid to do the wrong thing. thanks.
Eileen W says
Hello, my red raspberries give fruit in spring (May) and fall (Sept/Oct.) I live in western PA. These berry bushes are from my childhood home where we had plenty to make many jars of jam. My transplants, not so much. They are well established-at least 20 years.
It sounds like they are the ever bearing “heritage” type, but before I do any cutting, I would feel more confident with your opinion.
Thank you.
Garry Gonzalez says
Loved this raspberry article and hopefully from it, can identify the type I have. I have bought different varieties and not labelled them so I could have both types but pruning will now be 'easy peasy', after following your article.
Tomorrow a new day. Thank you so much from Birmingham England.
Anna Chesley says
Thank you so much for the kind words! Cheering you on from Maine!
Elise says
I am trying to determine what raspberry plant I have. I am in zone 7b. We inherited a garden plot that had the canes we took and transplanted to another area in the garden in late April. I am getting fruit now, September/October, on the canes we transplanted, no fruit on the canes that popped up this year. Could it be that the fruit was late because of the transplant? I’m not sure if I should prune or just leave as is to see what happens in the spring? Any advice will help, thank you!
Zedmonton says
Our raspbereies never produced in the fall but we live in a very cold zone. Usually by now (Oct 1) we have had a hard frost. This year our raspberries did poorly, fruit drying on the canes. We pruned heavily. Now we are blossoming again at the top of the primocanes and are worried about next years harvest. I thought we bought summer bearing but could we have had ever bearing these last 5 years? Still learning thank you.
Joan Allwarden says
I have tall healthy raspberry plants which were transplanted two falls ago, from a productive patch. Last summer there was no fruit. They have grown well and again this summer, no fruit. No flowers.
What kind of raspberries do you think I have, summer or ever-bearing? Why no fruit? And prune or not prune this fall?
Summer says
All my raspberry canes that fruited last year are budding and flowering this year and I have some stray spouts off to the side.
Janet Wilson says
I know I have one of wach type: Willamette which is summer bearing, and Heritage, which is ever bearing. My problem is that the Willamette sprouts EVERYWHERE, in the grass, in the mulch, and possibly in the Heritage bed. Is this a problem? Will they crossbreed?
Pam Munroe says
Hi, I hope you can help.
We've had raspberries for several years, but didn't really do anything to thin them or prune them. They were a mess! But they grew and my kids enjoyed picking and eating them when they weren't too buggy.
We got an early batch in June and a later batch in late summer. (Sounds like the ever-bearing)
The last couple of years I've been trying to care for them and would like to trellis them. After any cane has fruited, I cut it down close to the ground. This has helped a lot! After the early berries are done and pruned, there are smaller canes that continue to grow until they fruit in late summer or fall. After they bear, I prune them so that by winter my patch is all cut down.
I'm now reading conflicting information about pruning ever-bearing raspberries. Some say each cane will only fruit once, others say to prune the cane below where it fruited and it will bear again in fall.
Also one article recommended pruning in late winter so that the plant has time to develop the root system. I really like getting them cleared out before winter, but am I hurting the root system.
Maybe these differences are due to growing seasons in different zones? I'm in zone 6-a.
James DeBiasi says
This is just what I needed. Thank you.
Sylvia Petrie says
I have 2 raspberry plants that have been given to me .they look different in the one has good strong green leaves while the other has small lighter green leaves. Neither plant has fruited yet as they are both only a few month old. How do I tell the difference or do I just wait til their first fruiting to see?
Thank you