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How to prune raspberries

Updated: 22 October 2026

You are standing in the garden with secateurs, looking at brown canes, green shoots, and a label that might not say whether this plant fruits in July or October. How to prune raspberries starts with naming the wood, because summer and autumn types are cut on opposite calendars, and a double-crop cultivar such as Twotimer Sugana adds a third pattern if you keep the wrong stems. Which listings claim primocane or double-crop fruiting is in the [Raspberry bush comparison](/hub/ornamental-plants/raspberry-bush). Peter F. set these cuts from RHS guidance and the stored seller copy, not a garden trial. A qualifying purchase through our amazon.co.uk links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are standing in the garden with secateurs, looking at brown canes, green shoots, and a label that might not say whether this plant fruits in July or October.

Our top picks

Carbeth Plants Fallgold raspberry, primocane

Best overall

Carbeth Plants Fallgold raspberry, primocane
7.0/10about £16.99
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Carbeth Plants Glen Ample raspberry, 9 cm pot

Best value

Carbeth Plants Glen Ample raspberry, 9 cm pot
6.6/10about £9.99
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Carbeth Plants Twotimer Sugana Red, one cane

Rank 3

Carbeth Plants Twotimer Sugana Red, one cane
7.9/10about £16.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Which canes are which
  2. 2.Summer raspberries
  3. 3.Autumn raspberries
  4. 4.Two crops from one plant
  5. 5.The day the plant arrives

Which canes are which

Floricanes grew last year, overwintered, and flower this summer. After they fruit they die back and come out. Primocanes are this season’s green shoots. On autumn types they fruit the same year. On summer types they are next year’s crop and must be kept. Fruited summer wood is darker and brittle. New primocanes are green and flexible. Glen Ample is a summer floricane in UK nursery and breeding sources even when Amazon does not print summer-fruiting. Fallgold B09QGZ56D3 states primocane, so use an autumn calendar. Cutting a summer row to the ground in February removes next season’s fruiting wood. The type choice is on summer vs autumn raspberries.

Summer raspberries

After harvest, remove fruited summer canes at ground level. Keep the best six to eight new canes per metre and tie them to wires. The RHS spaces them about 10 cm apart. Gardeners’ World sometimes quotes 15 cm or 20 cm, which is the same idea: do not leave a crowd of weak shoots. In February, tip the tied canes just above the top wire. Cutting every summer cane down in February destroys the wood that would have bloomed. Leaving every sucker also costs you: crowded canes stay damp and fruit stays small. Glen Ample, and any other summer name without a harvest month on the listing, still follows this floricane calendar.
Carbeth Plants Fallgold raspberry, primocane

Testsieger

Carbeth Plants Fallgold raspberry, primocane
7.0/10about £16.99
View offer

Autumn raspberries

Cut autumn primocanes to the ground in late winter, usually January or February. Take out the canes that fruited, and thin the stool if too many new shoots appear. Gardeners’ World and the RHS both use that ground-level cut. New canes then fruit on their tips later the same year. They need less permanent wire than a summer row, and a windy balcony pot still wants a stake. Use this calendar on Fallgold where the listing says primocane. Do not use a total February clear-cut on Sugana if you want both harvests. That cut leaves one late crop and drops the early pick the seller advertises.

Two crops from one plant

Twotimer Sugana claims two harvests if you keep selected canes. Van Meuwen’s note keeps the strongest canes around a metre for an early crop and still allows later fruit on newer wood. That is partial retention, not the autumn shave. A total winter clear-cut still gives primocane fruit and drops the early window. Photograph what you leave each February. This is more work than a pure summer or autumn habit, so it is an upgrade, not the default first cane.

The day the plant arrives

Shorten a new dormant cane to about 25 cm at planting, unless the supplier sold long-cane summer stock to tie in uncut. A 9 cm mail-order plant is a young cane. Trim damaged tips, plant at the same depth, and do not force a heavy feed on day one. Format checks are on the raspberry plants buying guide. A cane with dry bark, no bud swell and a brown snap is dead. Pruning will not revive it, and that is a seller quality issue. For cane blight, cut below the lesions, ideally below soil level, in dry weather, and disinfect the blades. That is hygiene for sick wood, not a spray programme. A Glen Ample in a tub still loses fruited wood after harvest, and the new canes still need tying.

Common questions

When do I prune summer raspberries?
Remove fruited canes at ground level after harvest and tie in the best six to eight new canes per metre. Space them about 10 cm apart on RHS advice, or a little wider if you follow a Gardeners’ World spacing. In February, tip those tied canes just above the top wire. Do not cut the whole stool to the ground.
When do I prune autumn raspberries?
Cut fruited canes to the ground in late winter, usually January to February in the UK, then thin if too many shoots sprout. New canes grow and fruit on their tips later the same year. That ground-level cut is the standard primocane habit, not the summer routine of keeping last year’s wood.
What happens if I cut all the canes down in February?
On autumn types you get a normal primocane cycle, with fruit on this year’s wood. On summer types you remove next year’s fruiting wood and may get little or no crop. On Sugana, a total clear-cut leaves one late crop and drops the early pick the seller advertises.
How do I prune for two crops on Sugana?
Keep selected strong canes through winter for an early pick, around a metre in the Van Meuwen cultivar note, and manage newer primocane growth for a later harvest. Do not clear every stem if you bought the plant for two crops. Follow the seller and nursery notes for that cultivar.
Do I cut a new plant down when it arrives?
Often yes, to about 25 cm on a small bare-root or potted cane, so the top matches a small root system. Do not hard-top long-cane summer stock if the supplier tells you to tie those canes in. A 9 cm mail-order plant is still a young cane, not a mature row.
Should I prune if the canes look diseased?
Remove infected wood to healthy tissue. Where cane blight is suspected, cut below the lesions and ideally below soil level, in dry weather, and disinfect the blades between cuts. That is hygiene for sick wood. It is not a routine spray programme, and it will not revive a cane that is already dead through the stem.

Related pages

Raspberries in pots

Raspberry bush

Best raspberry plants UK from this amazon.co.uk set

Raspberry plants UK: what a small pot actually buys

Summer vs autumn raspberries: which cane wood fruits

Sources

Public sources from the research digest. Shelf prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures in the display file on 20 October 2026. The price band is this set, not a market average. No listing was trialled in a garden, and none of these files shows a plant passport.

  1. RHS: grow raspberries (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  2. RHS: raspberry beetle (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  3. RHS: raspberry cane blight (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  4. GOV.UK: plants that need a plant passport in Great Britain (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  5. James Hutton Institute: Glen Ample (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  6. Thompson & Morgan: Cascade Delight (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  7. Van Meuwen: Sugana double-crop note (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  8. amazon.co.uk listings for the seven kept raspberry ASINs (retrieved 20 October 2026)