The Best DIY Raspberry Trellis
Foraging for berries in one’s own backyard has to be one of a gardeners greatest pleasures. But my property didn’t come with berries. When I first moved in, friends bestowed me with blackberry canes. I quickly realized that they were much too invasive, and I’m not even a huge fan of blackberries to begin with. Luckily, they are very easy to identify with their dusty purple-blue stems, and even easier to yank out. Other friends gave me raspberry canes, which I much prefer. So over time, I developed a patch of raspberries – an assortment of different varieties, both summer and fall bearing. Early in the spring, the area is full of daffodils and irises. As they die back, the raspberry canes fill in. I find that raspberries are much better behaved than blackberries. And the ones without thorns get preferential treatment.
Why You Need a Raspberry Trellis
Berry patches quickly create a large and untidy sprawl which can be both hard to manage and harvest. Initially, I put some green metal fence poles up, and strung wire on them. But even that was a messy and often haphazard solution. So as my patch developed, I started researching the best ways to support and trellis raspberries. I sketched out a design, and gave it to my guy with the power tools. And as usual, he did a stellar job creating what I asked for, going above and beyond with the “angel wing” curves. But he became frustrated digging where the roots of the privet hedges had once been, and opted not to set the posts in concrete. They are fairly deep, and they’re holding so far, but I’m starting to see a little bit of tilt on one post. So, if he ever builds such a raspberry trellis for someone again, it will be in concrete!
This sturdy raspberry trellis design has three tiers of support, creating a fountain shape that supports masses of berries. The maintenance that I do includes pulling out and occasionally replanting some of the newer canes that come up, to fill in the overall space. Raspberries are much better behaved, in my experience, than blackberries – they do send up canes outside the patch but not as many. I occasionally tighten the plastic coated wire, and twice a year, go through and cut out any old dead canes that are past producing. We mulch the area between the tree and the berries with cut grass, which keeps the weeds down and leaves me a pathway for harvesting. There is also a soaker hose hooked up to the rain barrels that weaves through the patch, taking advantage of the gravity slope.
Fruits of our Labor
This year, I had enough raspberries in the summer batch to make 4 pints of raspberry jam for the winter. Considering I also have blueberry and strawberry rhubarb, that’s plenty. The fall raspberries, just starting to ripen, will go straight into my mouth, if I can get to them before the birds, bees and chipmunks!
