Raspberries are most useful plant, with the help of which a person can get rid of many diseases, improve their well-being and boost their immunity. It is because of this that many gardeners grow these gifts of nature on their land. However, it is not enough to plant it; the plant must be properly cared for and protected from winter frosts. Preparing bushes for winter begins at the end of September or beginning of October, but no later than the time when the air temperature is below zero. The best way preparation is to bend the bushes, but they need to be properly prepared for this.
How to carry out the procedure?
As mentioned above, in autumn raspberry bushes bend to the ground. This should be done as low as possible. In this position, the branches are attached to the pre-prepared bottom wire of the trellis. Leaves are removed from the shoots. This can be done easily and quickly by putting a mitten on your hand, grabbing the shoot and running your hand from below to the top of the shoot. If you move your hand in a different direction, it will harm the culture. The thing is that her buds grow from the bottom up and if moved incorrectly they can easily break off. If the leaves on the shoots are not removed, they will soon completely cover the leaves, which will subsequently lead to a burn of the buds, as wet leaves begin to rot.
Please note that you need to bend the stems so that winter time they were completely under the snow. You should not make the common mistake of leaving the stems at a height of about sixty centimeters. After all, in winter this is the coldest zone. As for the snow cover, it is usually about forty to fifty centimeters. Therefore, if you perform the procedure incorrectly, the raspberry stems will end up not under the snow, but above the snow.
Little secrets
The quality of wintering raspberries is also affected by the condition of the plant. So, for example, if you overfed raspberries with nitrogen, their resistance to frost will decrease several times. This also applies to thickened raspberries that grow in the shade or have some kind of disease.
Remember that you also need to care for raspberries in winter. Make sure that the plant is under the snow. If the winter is not snowy, add snow to prevent the bushes from freezing. In cases where a crust forms on the snow, it must be pierced, thus creating air access to the raspberries. As you can see, caring for raspberries must be attentive and around the clock. Therefore, approach responsibly this process to get on next year a bountiful harvest.
Remember also that by covering the plant with snow, you protect it not only from frost, but also from the damage that hares cause to the crop. The bushes are untied after the raspberries are freed from snow. But keep in mind that you can’t immediately lift them onto the trellis, since you still don’t know which shoots withstood the winter and which ones “died.” This procedure should be performed a little later, after the affected shoots have been identified. However, they must be removed immediately, otherwise the disease may spread to the entire plant.
Regarding when to start autumn care behind the bushes, gardeners' opinions differ. Some believe that it is necessary to cut them right before frost, thus causing minimal harm to the plant - the movement of sap stops at this time, and it would be best to cut off part of the shoots. Others argue that immediately after fruiting it is necessary to remove unnecessary shoots, which will give the rhizome more energy for development.
But most gardeners are sure that pruning should be done in early September, the deadline is early October. The argument is very simple. The fact is that it is at this time that the amount of juice in the stems is still large, but its circulation is much lower than in summer, for example. After pruning, you need to wrap the bushes, tie them and bend them to the ground, and doing this at the end of October and November will simply be impossible due to the high fragility of the stem.
We’ve decided on the deadline, now let’s turn our attention to the pruning process itself. In order for the bush to be properly prepared for winter, we need to remove:
- Old dry shoots. Regardless of how you care for the plant throughout the year, dry shoots cannot be avoided and they will definitely be present in some quantity. We remove them at the root to clean up the thickets a little and allow us to move normally around the plantation.
- Young shoots. Many novice gardeners leave them and make a big mistake. They will freeze anyway, since the stem has no wood, and any frost will be fatal for it. The young shoot only wastes the energy of the bush, that is, useful substances that could be sent to the rhizome and developed. We remove such shoots at the root as early as possible!
- Unnecessary branches in too dense bushes. Please note that the number of shoots affects the weight of one fruit and the more thickets you have in your garden bed, the smaller the berries will be. You need to leave no more than 5-7 shoots on a 3-4 year old bush - this best option, if fertilizers are constantly applied. If they are not there, then 5 shoots is the maximum so that the root system has enough strength to provide the entire vegetative mass with sufficient quantity useful substances.
The branches that you plan to leave for the second year also need to be trimmed a little. If this is a regular raspberry variety (and not a remontant one), then you need to remove approximately 15% of the length of the shoot. As a rule, 15-20 centimeters. This will allow you to remove a section of the plant that is not frost-resistant, which freezes, rots and can lead to the death of the entire branch in the spring. The cut diameter must be at least 6 mm - only in a stem of this thickness a large number of nutrients.
Bending raspberries - how to do it correctly and when
The main mistake of a novice gardener is bending down raspberries just before frost. At this point the stems may break. Even if a fracture is not visible, then in the spring such shoots, as a rule, still die, because the vessels are destroyed, and in the place where the stem was bent, useful substances do not pass to the top in sufficient quantities.
That is why this process must be carried out not when the stem is completely ready for winter, but earlier, when it is flexible and you can painlessly twist it into a ram’s horn. It is best to do this at the end of September or even earlier. You shouldn’t rush too much either - you need to wait until the root system grows properly.
Tying up and leaving all the stems of a bush in the form of a bunch for the winter is one of the most serious mistakes of a novice gardener. Despite the fact that there are many photographs of such “bunches” on the Internet and those who support this method of wintering, it is extremely unsafe for raspberries. By and large, it’s the same thing as not covering it at all - a bunch of them still won’t protect you from frost if they’re not under the snow. It is important to remember that tying is not a method of insulating the stems of a plant, but simply a type of organization that helps to make beautiful bunches and just as beautifully place them on a trellis in the spring.
Preparing raspberries for winter also includes a process such as removing leaves. The procedure is quite important and should not be neglected. The fact is that when cold weather sets in, the leaves begin to die, but do not fall off, but adhere to the stem, exactly in the place where the buds form. In cold and humid weather, they can “burn” vegetative and generative buds and kill them. If the weather does not cooperate with you, then you can lose up to 40% of the next year's harvest just because the leaves were not removed in time.
This preparation of raspberry bushes for winter proceeds as follows: take a hard glove and smoothly move your hand from the base of the branch to its very top. The leaves are weakly attached in the fall, so with this movement you can remove 100% of all “garbage”.
Important: never press the stem too hard with your hand when moving along it - you can damage the buds and deprive yourself of next year's harvest! Never perform this process in reverse, from top to bottom.– the buds are directed from bottom to top and you will break them all by moving your hand “against the grain.”
Once all the leaves have been removed, proper bending must be done. How to do it? It’s very simple: take a bunch of branches (you can even tie them for beauty), tie a stone weighing 1 kg and place it on the ground. This is done to ensure that individual stems do not rise above the level of future snow, otherwise they will freeze. If the raspberries were on a trellis, then you can simply tie them to the lowest wire, the main thing is that the height of the bunch is no more than 25 centimeters above the ground. Some gardeners place the bush on the ground and cover it with agrofibre (spandex), so the stem will breathe air and be reliably protected from frost, even if there is very little snow this year.
Preparing remontant raspberries for winter - what are the differences?
Many people don't see the difference between regular varieties and remontant, but their preparation for winter is extremely different. To be more precise, in the second case it is completely absent. The fact is that remontant varieties have their own peculiarity - they bear fruit not on a two-year-old shoot, but on a fresh, one-year-old one. Thus, the old branches are not needed at all and are cut out at the root. The main task of the gardener when growing remontant raspberries– develop the rhizome as best as possible so that next year there will be many one-year shoots.
That is, the main emphasis is not on preserving the bush, but on the maximum destruction of the entire vegetative mass, and this must be done immediately when the fruiting period ends. Then all this time it is the root system that will develop. The most acceptable time for removal is mid-October, since the remontant variety bears fruit almost until frost and you can take a little time to enjoy the fruits.
If there are a lot of bushes, you can leave a few of them for berries, and cut out the rest so that the root system develops.
Fertilizer for the winter - is it necessary? Many gardeners, sooner or later, are faced with the choice of whether to fertilize raspberries for the winter or not. Some believe that an excessive amount of nutrients will lead to the circulation of sap and the bushes may freeze, others are sure that it is necessary to develop as much as possible root system
, despite the claims of the former. The correct answer is necessary, but only correctly and in a timely manner. The first thing you need to learn is one lesson - never apply too much nitrogen fertilizer after August . This can lead to excessive circulation of sap in the stem; it will not “calm down” enough for the winter and may freeze even at a frost of -5 degrees. It is necessary to euthanize the plant as much as possible so that it can withstand extremely low temperatures
. “But what about fertilizer in the spring, because the bush needs to start quickly?” -you ask. This is very easy to solve. It is enough to add a little manure and other organic fertilizers before the onset of frost - the process of their decomposition is long, about 4-5 months at least. Just at the moment when the plant begins to come to life, it will receive many useful substances. This concludes the preparation of raspberries for winter and there is no need to invent anything else. In the spring, if there is a shortage of fertilizer, you can use foliar fertilizers - the most give impetus to development. They act almost instantly, so they are suitable for gaining the vegetative mass of the plant by the time of flowering. But do not overuse these fertilizers; remember, your main task is not lush foliage, but a high yield of berries.
So that the raspberry bushes can be easily moved winter cold, you need to provide her with quality care in the fall and prepare her for wintering.
Preparation consists of several stages
- treat the bushes from harmful insects who are going to spend the winter in a raspberry field;
- trim branches, thereby removing dry, unhealthy and broken ones; new shoots are also destroyed, since they will not survive the winter anyway, and their remains can provoke diseases of the entire bush;
- thin out the bushes, leaving up to 10 shoots per square meter so that the raspberry tree has enough light and moisture for the future good harvest;
- remove the leaves to save the buds from burning. The stem is cleaned by grasping it loosely and moving your hand from top to bottom;
- remove debris from raspberry bushes;
- tilt it lower and secure the branches - this will protect the plant from frost.
If the winters in the region where raspberries are grown are very cold, but with little snow, then the bush will need to be covered with snow yourself. To do this, you will need straw, which will need to be used to cover the raspberries. A layer of 20 cm will be enough. This way the bushes will safely overwinter and be saved from rodent infestations. Intelligent and timely preparation of raspberries for wintering will protect thin young stems from freezing.
Before starting to cover the raspberry bushes, the ground is loosened and last time fertilize. If the soil is too dry, it will need to be watered sparingly.
Is it necessary to bend raspberries for the winter?
This issue will be resolved in each region different ways, depending on the climatic conditions and varieties. Where there are winters with severe frosts, but not rich in snow (for example, in the Urals and Siberia, in the North-West of the country), the raspberry plant must be bent down. This increases the chances that the snow cover will still cover the thickets, and they will endure the cold comfortably. In the central part of Russia, not all bushes are bent, but only shoots of the most pampered and capricious varieties. Most often this standard types or specimens with large fruits:
- Malakhovka;
- Maroseyka;
- Sweet tooth;
- Padishah;
- Taganka;
- Patricia;
- Yellow Giant.
It is necessary to bend and cover for the winter:
- black raspberries of the Cumberland variety,
- crossed varieties of blackberries and raspberries.
Often, all the complete information about the characteristics of the variety and recommendations for proper care for the plant are indicated by sellers, you should definitely familiarize yourself with such information.
If you have any doubts about whether to bend the raspberries for the winter or not, it is better to choose the first option; it will not make them any worse. But in southern regions the main thing is not to overdo it with insulation, otherwise the shrub may simply wither away.
And perhaps main question: how to bend raspberries?
How to bend raspberries?
You need to have time to bend the raspberries in late autumn, after the end of leaf fall, but before the arrival of frost. Raspberry branches are bent to the ground and secured in the following ways:
- tie the tops of the shoots to the bottom of neighboring branches,
- weave the branches into a kind of braid along the length of the entire row and press down with something heavy.
Ways to bend raspberries:
Raspberries are not among the plants that can easily withstand cold and frost, and therefore require more careful attention. If you prepare it on time and correctly for the onset of winter, then it will certainly delight you with a rich and aromatic harvest of berries.
One of the components of the guarantee of high productivity of any crop is competent organization caring for her. There are different opinions on the question of when to start preparing raspberries for wintering. In this article, the author tried to systematize all the recommendations and find that “golden mean” that is quite possible to focus on, especially for summer residents who have not yet acquired sufficient practical experience.
Top dressing
This point should be followed simple rule– an increased content of fertilizers in the soil reduces the frost resistance of raspberries. Based on this, it is necessary to carry out the final enrichment of the soil according to a “simplified” program and accurately determine its timing.
Fertilizers should be applied for the last time approximately 1.5 months before pruning. But here everything is not so simple. Experienced sensors advise taking into account the type of nutrients. Organic matter (humus, last year's manure, compost or ash) is added no later than the second ten days of July. If we're talking about about nitrogen preparations, then the deadlines can be shifted another couple of weeks, until the end of the month.
Raspberry pruning
In order for the plants in the raspberry garden to develop well next year, each bush should have a maximum of 4 shoots. When planting in rows, their optimal number is no more than 10 per meter of plot. All dried, diseased, broken, as well as those growing sideways and interfering with adjacent bushes are removed clearly, and thoroughly, at the root, preferably level with the ground.
Even the remaining small “stumps”, given that the dried stems are almost hollow inside, are potential places for the accumulation of various garden pests. They will overwinter there and lay eggs. The end result can be predicted in advance.
How to identify affected stems? Visually, by clearly visible swellings on the trunks.
The same applies to the length of the remaining stems. They should be shortened to approximately 1 m - 80 cm. This is enough for them to begin to grow in the spring, and it will be much easier to cover the raspberry bushes for the winter. But you need to shorten it, making sure to leave the green top. It is she who ensures the process of photosynthesis, and not the lignified raspberry trunk.
Another important point is that not a single leaf should remain on the trunks of the plant. Otherwise, they will begin to rot, and the bud will no longer germinate in this place next year. Cutting off each one individually is a waste of time. It is enough to put on a soft mitten, lightly squeeze your fingers and run your hand along the stem, always from bottom to top. Just be careful not to damage the kidneys.
Attention! All stems and leaves discarded during the pruning process should be burned. Simply storing them on the site, for example, as a supply of “fuel” for a stove, will not lead to anything good. The pests that have settled in them (the same crimson gall midge) will again spread across the territory, survive the winter safely in the ground, and in the spring they will again appear on the plants.
Two-year-old stems are considered to have “expired” their useful life. They are no longer able to bear fruit abundantly or produce large berries. Therefore, they should also be removed without any regret - they will be of no use anyway. It is not difficult to distinguish them from the general mass - by the darker shade of the trunk.
Timing of pruning
Option 1. After the end of the fruiting period. Reasoning - the roots will receive more nutrients, which will help them survive the winter well and subsequently stimulate more intensive development of raspberries.
Option 2. Before the onset of the first cold weather. Rationale - the movement of juices has practically stopped, therefore, no harm will be caused to the raspberries when pruning.
- Experienced gardeners who have been growing this crop for many years advise starting this stage of preparing raspberries for winter no later than the end of September, when the weather is still relatively warm. Yes, there is still juice in the stems, but its circulation is not as intense as in summer. It also gives the trunks some flexibility; This means that when tying and wrapping the bushes there is no risk of damage to the raspberries. And here late autumn When the stems are already dry, they are quite easy to break. This is what we should proceed from, taking into account local climatic conditions.
- Double pruning helps increase yield. About the first, its features have already been said. The second is held in early spring, upon the onset of stable warm days. The point is to shorten the raspberry stems that have survived the winter by about 25 cm. What does this give? The formation of new lateral shoots, which are also capable of bearing fruit. But this is justified if the distance between the bushes is about 65 cm. With a denser planting of raspberries, secondary pruning will only complicate the process of caring for the crop and picking berries.
- If repaired varieties are grown on the site, then it is recommended to completely cut off the entire raspberry bush for the winter.
- For the southern regions, one pruning in spring is enough.
Soil preparation
- If the raspberry tree was mulched, then this entire artificial layer is removed. You cannot leave it for the winter. The reason is that when cold weather sets in, voles and a number of other pests take up residence in the mulch. It’s warm for them there, so they choose this place.
- The soil is enriched with any organic fertilizer () and lightly dug up.
Preparation of bushes
There are several options, and in order to choose the best one, you need to understand why it is needed. If you look into specialized literature, for example, a surveyor's handbook, you can find tables that indicate the relationship between temperature (ºC) and wind speed (m/sec). Simply put, the stronger its gusts, the more the soil freezes in the raspberry field. In addition, the stems of bushes that are left for the winter break. Therefore, you need to focus not only on the climate in the region, but also on the location of plantings on the site.
Method 1. The shoots bend down and intertwine with each other. If winter in the region is accompanied by heavy snowfalls, good decision. The precipitation will quickly cover the low-bent branches with a layer and reliably protect them from both cold and wind. But this is practiced provided that the raspberry tree does not stand on open place, blown from all sides.
To prevent the branches from straightening, it is advisable to fix them with metal arches and tie them to wooden trellises installed on racks. There are many technologies, but the point is the same - to prevent the stems from rising above the snow layer. Otherwise they will die in winter.
Method 2. Fencing the raspberry tree around the perimeter. By the way, experienced summer residents do this. Firstly, an attractive fence in itself is a good decoration of the landscape, an element of its design. Secondly, it limits the sideways growth of bushes. Thirdly, it serves as the basis with which the raspberry tree can be reliably protected from side winds. For example, cover it with spruce branches for the winter, stretch a thick polyethylene film or roofing material sheet over the fence.
Method 3. It is practiced less often, since it is both more difficult and more expensive. But if the raspberry bushes are planted on a hill, well blown from all sides, then there is no other way out. In essence, a temporary “greenhouse” is installed for the winter - a frame on which the film is stretched. Options include sheathing with sheets of plywood or something similar. Young bushes can simply be covered with large containers - wooden or plywood boxes.
What to do in spring
Release the stems and cut out those that did not survive the winter. All! Trying to straighten them artificially is a big mistake. The branches will gradually take the desired position themselves, so you should not “rush” them. Well, then – preparation for the summer period. But this is a separate topic.
Have a great raspberry harvest next year!
Traditionally grown on summer cottages delicious and healthy berry The raspberries have already yielded their harvest. Winter is approaching, and gardeners are faced with the question of how to prepare raspberries for winter. Proper preparation- the key to getting a good harvest in the future, so it’s worth the effort. Undoubtedly, you need to know how to care for raspberries in the fall. One of the most important stages in rejuvenating and increasing the productivity of raspberry bushes is their autumn pruning.
Why should you prune raspberries?
Before answering the question of how to prepare raspberries for winter, we will define the stages of work. This includes pruning, fertilizing, removing leaves and bending stems. Pruning a bush has several purposes. Firstly, all old, diseased and unnecessary branches are removed. Secondly, proper pruning will help to significantly increase the future harvest and help the shoots survive the upcoming cold weather. Thirdly, thinning the bushes has a good effect on the quality of the berries; in well-kept plantings they are much larger than in neglected areas. Raspberries are prepared for winter in September or early October. Dates autumn work important. Decrease in air temperature to negative values will not allow all stages to be carried out efficiently, so you should not wait for persistent cold weather.
Pruning technology: what you need to know
When worrying about how to prepare raspberries for winter, you should remember that each stem must be cut to the very root. Even small stumps should not be left: insect pests penetrate and multiply. Two-year-old stems that have served their purpose must be pruned. It is easy to distinguish them - as a rule, they are dry and dark, stand out appearance against the background of young, greenish shades of branches. They also remove broken, weak, diseased shoots that grow incorrectly inside the bush and young unnecessary shoots.
After pruning, 5-7 strong, viable and healthy stems are left in the raspberry bush. When planting in rows, you should not leave more than 10 shoots for each meter of bed length. Significant thinning of bushes - better preparation raspberries for winter, ensuring successful anticipation of the cold weather.
Freeing raspberries from pests
When pruning, you must carefully inspect all shoots. Pests often overwinter and develop in raspberry stems. For example, the crimson gall midge, common in many regions of Russia, lays eggs in the stem, causing irreparable damage to it. The affected branches are clearly identified visually - characteristic swellings appear on them, tearing upper layer bark. All cut stems should be burned. If this is not done, the pests will overwinter well and again settle in the raspberries, significantly reducing the yield.
Double trimming
Double pruning of the bush helps increase raspberry yields. It's labor intensive, but effective technique. It consists of pruning the tops of stems that have reached a meter in height by 20-25 cm in autumn and early spring. This method stimulates the development of side shoots, which, in turn, also branch, forming new side stems with flower buds. As a result, a fan of strong lateral branches is formed on several main shoots, which not only helps to increase the productivity of the bush, but also greatly simplifies its care and harvesting. With this method of growing raspberries, large intervals should be made between bushes - 60-70 cm minimum. Preparing raspberries for winter with this growing method has great value: skip autumn pruning it is forbidden. It should be noted that this method is not suitable for remontant raspberry varieties. Gardeners who specialize in growing such species recommend cutting off the bushes completely for the winter.
How to prepare raspberries for winter?
You should take care of proper wintering of berry bushes in the summer. Carrying out necessary fertilizing, you must adhere to the established standards and under no circumstances overfeed the raspberries. It is excessive fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers that reduces the frost resistance of the bush. The area where raspberries are grown plays a special role. It should be well lit; sunlight makes the shoots strong enough and able to withstand the winter. After pruning, under the bushes you need to add organic fertilizers (humus is better) and dig up the soil layer. If the bed has been mulched, it is necessary to remove the mulch - in winter, field mice may live in it.
Raspberries: care in autumn
Pruning is the main, but not the only stage in preparing a bush for winter. Raspberries are usually quite frost-resistant, but extreme cold can destroy flower buds. To prevent this from happening, gardeners successfully use a method such as bending the bushes to the ground. That's what it's for. Snow cover has always been considered the best shelter for bushes and trees. Therefore, the raspberry bush, located in close proximity to the ground, is covered with snow even before the arrival of severe frosts. Average height snow cover in middle lane Russia reaches 50-60 cm, which means that a bush bent at a distance of less than half a meter from the ground will overwinter without loss.
It is important to remember that you need to bend the raspberry shoots so that they are completely under the snow. The stems must not be allowed to remain above the snow cover; this is the most dangerous and coldest zone, because the air temperature is the lowest near the snow. If raspberry bushes are planted on trellises, they are bent one to the other, secured to the bottom wire or pinned to the ground with metal hooks. This should be done before stable negative average daily temperatures set in. In such conditions, the stems become fragile, and it will not be possible to bend them without breaking them.
Before bending the stems to the ground, you need to remove the foliage from them, since the remaining leaves get wet and begin to rot, which can cause bud burns. Removing foliage from the stem is simple: with your hand in a mitten, you need to loosely grasp the shoot and draw it from the bottom up to the top. This will allow you to get rid of the leaves and not break off the flower buds.
That's all you need to know about how to prepare raspberries for winter. All that remains is to wait out the winter and in the spring, as soon as the snow melts, carefully release the stems bent to the ground. There is no need to rush things; you should let the bushes straighten, take the desired shape on their own, and after some time, cut out the stems that could not survive the frost, have rotted or broken.