Hi,
Planted some Raspberry vines, for first time.
Was wondering: Assuming any berries actually appear, are Raspberries something:
Rabbits will go after ?
Birds ?
Squirrels ? Or,...?
If so, any hints or solutions ?
Thanks, Bob (outside of Boston, Mass.)
Hi, Bob
I have raspberries and the only thing that bothers them is during the late/last fruit production. It's only a couple of birds that have seem to find and like them so it's no problem. I have squirrels but they're to busy with the neighbors walnut tree to even look sideways at my raspberries. Neighbors also have dogs so the deer are kept away.
If you're just now buying, I hope you purchase some of the yellow berries. They have a wonderful nutty yet fruity taste to them.
Donna in WA zone 8
My first berries were eaten by birds last year. I found a patch of wild red raspberries while kayaking a few summers ago. I returned in late fall when they had gone dormant and dug a few to transplant. My first small crop developed last summer but when I went to harvest them, they were bare of berries. I assume the birds ate them. This year, I'm going to cover them with protective netting so that I can get a few for myself.
Are you aware that raspberries only put out fruit on two-year-old canes?
The good thing about raspberries is that the vines propagate by layering. The canes bend over when they grow long and put out roots where the top of the cane rests on the ground. I've been separating those from the main plant and transplanting to fill in the rows.
Paul (outside of Baltimore, Md.)
Standard raspberries produce fruit in summer, on second-year canes.
Everbearing raspberries produce fruit in fall, on first-year canes.
Una
Raspberries
Rabbits will occasionally go after them. They don't go after the fruit, but sometimes strip the leave off the new shoots.
In a very harsh winter, they will mow down and devour all the canes which would wipe out the entire crop for the next summer, unless you were growing a variety that is a fall bearer.
They don't bother my raspberries. Too busy eating mulberries or wild blackcap raspberries. It's like they aren't 'trained' to go after red raspberries, at least where I'm gardening now.
Years back, in a different location, I had to net the raspberries to keep the birds off.
Never been a problem.
Yellowjackets and ants will attack ripe berries, particularly the fall crop. (Bald face hornets will visit the fall blossoms on my raspberries and may actually do quite a bit of pollinating, but, unlike their more colorful relatives, they don't chew up the berries.)
Not sure if there is a solution to that other than be vigilant and destroy yellowjacket nests. You could try treating the ground around the raspberries if ants are a big problem.
Don't spray the berries themselves with anything you aren't willing to eat yourself; they are far to delicate to wash.
Deer could potentially be a problem, but haven't been so far for me.
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