Raspberries

(Question)

When some workmen were doing a job in our garden, their machinery ran over and mowed down my raspberry patch. Will the raspberries come up next spring or should I order some more?

(Answer)

Thank you for contacting the Toronto Master Gardeners regarding your raspberries.

Raspberry roots are perennial so there is no need to purchase new bushes. The next question is whether your raspberries will bear fruit next summer. There are two type of raspberries:

Summer-fruiting raspberries develop  their fruit on last year’s growth. They bear one crop per season, in summertime (often June or July). In the first year, the new green canes grow vegetatively and do not flower; they then develop a brown bark and go dormant for the winter. In the following spring the canes wake up, flower, produce fruit, and die.

Ever-bearing raspberries produce berries on new canes. They bear a fall crop and can also produce fruit the following summer.

So, depending on what type of raspberry bushes you have you may not be picking any raspberries for jam next summer. For more information on how to care for your raspberry OMAFRA has an excellent Fact Sheet: Raspberries + Blackberries.