Yes a community garden plot. What I am confused by is which stems to keep. It is such a mess it is hard to know which stems go to which main plant or if theres a bunch from more than one. There are so many coming out of the ground in so many directions, it is overwhelming. I am brand new to dealing with canes. If I am reading right, I need to keep the younger canes for next year's berries. And I don't want to prune until fall/winter or spring? Should I remove the extra bushes in fall? There's so many canes, I can't remove weeds without pulling up canes. Thank you for your help!

And one more question. I read it is best to remove canes later on in the year but can I remove spent canes now? The canes that already had raspberries this year?

When a cane is done fruiting it has no use but can restrict air flow and be a carrier for disease to other canes. Remove them.

Awesome! I am going to go in there and trim them down. Maybe that will help me to know which canes belong to what plant and I can pull the excess.

With raspberries it doesn't really matter which cane belongs with which plant. They spread by running roots which send up canes and trying to keep the plants separate is really not worth the hassle. If you want a row just remove all growth outside the row. Then prune down any of the remaining canes which have already fruited.

On the other hand if you didn't get enough raspberries to justify the rent you might want to give them a year and then get rid of them if productivity doesn't improve. Raspberries can become weakened and virus ridden and are usually replaced every few years anyway.

This is very helpful! I knew you all would have the answers. I will just make rows and not worry about the spaces in between but focus on the old growth. I have been debating if they are worth it or not. I just don't like growing raspberries this way. The farmers here all grow their raspberries in nice, long rows. I am going to cut them back to two short rows and make the best of it. I will see how it goes next year and if it is worth it or not.

If you do not mind loosing next year crop, you can cut them all down, and when they start to regrow leave the strongest canes you want in the place you want them. If you want to keep just one row, you may need to take your shovel and cut the roots on the border of that row when it start to regrow, and before you cut the rest down. Then cover the canes you keep with plastic or tarp or cardboard and spray the rest with roundup, remove them a week later after they die. Cutting the roots is needed to prevent roundup affecting the canes you want to keep. Raspberries are bad spreaders, so you will have to keep them in place aggressively.

They are very tenacious. I am amazed at how fast and easy they spread. Thank you for the tips! I will grab some cardboard too.

I would not use Roundup, its an indiscriminate killer and it can be residual in the area sprayed. Roundup kills everything; weed, fruit, veg, flowers, it cant tell the difference. Since its a community garden, you may not be allowed to use Roundup in the area anyway.

I was advised to use once years ago to help me prepare a location as a short cut. I only used on part and quickly saw the difference. Tomato and cabbage plants in treated sections had weak to no growth. Besides, recent studies have found higher than expected levels of chemicals from Roundup as a residual in our food supply.

OCA Quote April 14 2016:

"Corporations would have us believe there's no harm in consuming or inhaling or absorbing small amounts of these chemicals into our bodies. But mounting evidence suggests otherwise. Here's a scary thought: New research shows that the additives (co-formulants) used in glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, may have damaging endocrine-disrupting effects. Sobering news, given that billions of pounds of Roundup are sprayed on both GMO and non-GMO crops every year, everywhere in the world."

I have moved raspberries and it did take a bit of digging and still some stragglers and strays but I'd rather take my time and have a healthy clean food supply. I used a roofing shovel since its used for chopping and scraping, it inserted easily to carve sections out.

You can paint roundup on leaves instead of spraying it, then remove whole plant. The amount of residual round up will be very minor in this case, as you going to remove the plants anyway. But if the rules of community garden prevent using it - it is a different story. I personally had to fight Japanese Knot Weed in my garden "plot"(which is a bigger part of my yard and has several levels and stone terraces), and I had to use roundup aggressively(digging was not an option as the roots of it going down for 8-12 feet between the rocks), but not sprayed, painted or poured into the cut stem. I didn't see any affect on near by veggies and even weeds continued to grow around dying plant. I am knot weed free now, other then occasional seedlings coming form near by properties that can be pulled easy without any chemicals. But of cause it is a personal choice to use any chemicals.

Right, samsaraedu and galinas, they don't allow it in the community garden. I do think the cardboard would be very helpful. I have to ask if it is allowed but I don't see why it wouldn't be as long as it is held down by rocks etc. I had a plot elsewhere and it had raspberries coming into the plot from other gardeners' plots. It is amazingly strong plant just like horseradish. I kind of wish they didn't allow these plants or made long narrow raised beds just for raspberries for those who really wanted them. Removing them is a constant battle. But I like the idea of rows in between. I can actually pick raspberries for a fair price right near me.