The
autumn fruiting raspberry, Polka, has now finished its summer fruiting session and I have cut out all the old canes. The lovely thing about Polka, apart from the healthy, sweet fruit that it gives me and the fact that it is
completely thornless, is that I can grow it to fruit in summer as well as autumn. I wasn't thinking when I planted an autumn fruiting variety about consequences. The consequences of growing that type in my garden is that the late summer/autumn windy weather knocks the leaves, the flowers, and the fruit off my raspberry canes and so now I treat it as a summer fruiter too. With Primocanes (like Polka) it means they fruit on this year's canes and you are then supposed to cut down those canes the following spring. Not me. I let the old last year's growth of canes remain and even though they are woody the following spring/summer, they still produce great fruit. While this is happening, new, green canes are being thrust up out of the crown in readiness for an autumn harvest. Now, I have found in previous years that the autumn harvest is pretty pathetic here, high up on the Pennines, (and I also think it's getting a bit late this year) but I'm not worried because these green canes will still provide summer fruit next year. You can see in the photos below that I have now tied in the new canes very carefully and neatly to try to protect them against thrashing about in the wind. I have also chopped off the tops as they are getting too tall - way above my fence - and they are starting to produce new growths further down the canes. We'll see whether or not I am lucky enough to get any flowers and fruit this year. It's all down to the weather. Isn't it always?
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| New Polka raspberry canes tied in |
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| Old Polka raspberry canes removed |
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| Top of raspberry canes cut off to control height |
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| New shoots on Polka raspberry means more fruit |
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| New shoots on raspberry cane |
