Caning Out a 20-Foot Summer-Bearing Raspberry Row With a 32-Inch Bypass Lopper: Crown-Level Cuts on Every Spent Floricane, a 6- to 12-Inch Hedgerow, and Canes 6 Inches Apart by Spring

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

After a summer-bearing red raspberry row finishes fruiting, every cane that bore fruit dies. Cut those spent floricanes at the crown with a 32-inch bypass lopper, trim the row back to a 6- to 12-inch strip, and haul the cuttings away. In spring, thin what's left to the thickest canes about 6 inches apart.

When should spent raspberry floricanes be cut out of a summer-bearing row?

Cut them any time after harvest ends, through late winter. Each floricane dies after it fruits, so removing it at the crown loses nothing and opens the row to air and light. Oregon State suggests doing it right after harvest when disease is present, and Iowa State lists fall after the first frost.

The Oregon State University Extension guide Growing Raspberries in Your Home Garden calls this "caning out." It removes floricanes that fruited at the crown, near soil level, either right after harvest or in winter. It holds summer-bearing hedgerows to 6 to 12 inches wide and spaces plants about 2.5 feet apart in rows 8 to 10 feet apart.

The Iowa State University Extension page How to Prune Raspberries removes the canes that bore fruit at ground level in fall after the first frost. In early spring it keeps the most vigorous canes, about 1/4 inch in diameter measured 30 inches up, spaced about 6 inches apart. It also advises removing and destroying the prunings to help limit anthracnose and spur blight.

Telling Floricanes From Primocanes

Trait	Spent floricane	Primocane (keep)
Age	2nd year, fruited this summer	1st year, no fruit yet*
Bark	Gray to brown, peeling	Green to red, smooth
Side shoots	Dried fruiting laterals	None or few
Cut	At the crown, flush to soil	Thin only in spring
Fate	Out of the garden	Fruits next summer

*This applies to summer-bearing types. Fall-bearing (everbearing) raspberries fruit on first-year cane tips, and they follow a different pruning plan.

A 20-Foot Row by the Numbers

At the 2.5-foot plant spacing in the Oregon State guide, a 20-foot row started from 8 plants. With canes about 6 inches apart in a single line, the same row carries about 40 fruiting canes for next year.

A narrow hedgerow with 6-inch spacing can hold up to two canes across, so plan on 40 to 80 keepers. Count before cutting so you don't strip the row too thin.

Materials and Tools

• 32-inch bypass lopper with sharp blades for flush crown cuts
• Leather gloves rated for thorns and long sleeves
• A tarp or wheelbarrow to collect canes as you cut
• A tape measure or a stick marked at 6 and 12 inches for the row width
• Rubbing alcohol and a rag to clean the blades between rows

Caning-Out Steps

1. Pick a dry day. Dry footing and dry canes make the crowns easier to see and the cuts easier to place.
2. Spot the floricanes. Walk the row and flag the gray, peeling canes with dried fruiting laterals and any canes that are already dead.
3. Cut at the crown. Open the lopper, slide the hooked blade low against the base of each spent cane, and cut flush with the soil so no stub is left.
4. Pull canes out backward. Lift each cut cane up and out of the trellis wires, butt end first, so the thorns don't snag the canes you're keeping.
5. Narrow the row. Cut any new canes growing outside the 6- to 12-inch strip at soil level, including suckers coming up in the aisle.
6. Remove the debris. Take every cut cane out of the garden area and destroy it, or burn it where allowed, rather than leaving it on the ground.
7. Clean the blades. Wipe the lopper blades with alcohol before moving on to the next row.
8. Thin in early spring. Before buds break, keep the thickest canes about 6 inches apart and remove the weak, short ones at the crown.

Lopper Safety

• Keep your free hand on the handle or behind your back, never on the cane next to the blade
• Wear eye protection, since springing canes and thorns whip back at face height
• Cut with the blade side toward the plant so the hook doesn't crush the crown
• Never cut toward your shins, and keep both feet out of the jaw's swing

The crossarm heights and wire spacing that hold the kept canes upright are covered in building a two-wire raspberry trellis. For trailing berries on a similar layout, see building a two-wire thornless blackberry trellis.

Rabbits and voles work raspberry rows in winter, and the trunk guards in rabbit- and vole-proofing young fruit trees carry over to the row ends. If you fence the whole patch, choose the mesh in the hardware cloth mesh size and gauge guide.

FAQ

Can I leave short stubs to mark where canes were?

No. Stubs left above the crown can harbor cane diseases and catch gloves and sleeves during spring thinning. Cut flush at soil level.

Should I tip the new primocanes now?

No. Oregon State advises against pruning or tipping primocanes inside the row during the growing season, so they grow straight. Make any height cut during the late-winter pruning instead.