When and How Do I Cut Back Raspberry Canes in Autumn?

Autumn is a key moment in the raspberry management calendar — what you do now determines how well the row performs next season. The approach differs depending on whether you have summer-fruiting or autumn-fruiting varieties, and getting the timing and method right ensures you go into winter with the row in good shape and correctly prepared for spring growth.

Autumn pruning for summer-fruiting varieties

For summer-fruiting raspberries, the main pruning work was already done in late summer immediately after harvest — the old floricanes (the ones that fruited) should have been cut out then. In autumn, the remaining task is to select and thin the new primocanes that will fruit next year. Choose the six to eight strongest canes per metre of row and remove all weaker, thinner ones at ground level. Tie the selected canes to the support wires, spacing them 8–10cm apart. Remove any sucker growth outside the row boundaries.

Autumn-fruiting varieties — wait until winter

Despite the name, autumn-fruiting raspberries should NOT be cut down in autumn — fruit is still being produced into October and sometimes November. Wait until the plants are fully dormant (January or February) before cutting everything to the ground. Cutting in October removes canes that still have weeks of fruiting ahead of them. Resist the tidying impulse until winter.

Clearing debris after pruning

Remove all cut canes and fallen leaves from the row after pruning. Old cane material carries spores of cane blight, spur blight and botrytis, and leaving debris in the row provides a reservoir for disease in the following season. Burn or bin the cut material rather than composting it if disease was present during the season.