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sarah_gula

Raspberries need help!

9 years ago

My Husband and I moved from the States back to his childhood home in Ukraine this past winter. Here, for comparison, the climate is similar to Upstate NY. The old family house comes with a greenhouse, a huge garden, flower beds, and various fruit trees/plants. It's been quite a task getting them all back into shape this spring after years of neglect. Everything seems to be coming back well.....except for the raspberries. I can't figure out what to do with them! Apparently they've fruited well in previous years, according to our Grandmother (who still lives here as well, but hasn't really gardened for several years now due to age/health), but they seem completely dead to me with the exception of a few stragglers at the back edge of the patch. I pruned the tips back to about 5' high (Grandma's suggestion--apparently what she's done previously) earlier in spring, but it seems to me that all I've done was cut the tops off already-dead canes. What should I do? Clear out the patch and plant again? Or is there hope, and I just can't see it? I can't decide if there are new baby canes growing at the base of some of the old canes, or if they're just weeds. I'm completely new to berry canes--any advice greatly appreciated!

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