GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - planting raspberries

27-10-2003, 06:22 PM

(Steve Harris) wrote in
:

In article . 12,
(Victoria Clare) wrote:

My suspicion about your shrubs focusses on wetness

My soil is very free-draining sand, we've just had a very dry summer and
I've watered them about twice.

There you go then: I reckon your problem is not too much wet, but too
little. A heavy mulch might have helped, or (as you say) including more
organic matter in the hole, or just watering more and for longer. Just
twice, on sand, in a dry year, is definitely on the thirsty side!

I watered mine quite a bit this spring, and it's much wetter here than most
places.

* suddenly struck by a thought *

Are you now talking about raspberries, rather than shrubs generally?
Raspberries are sometimes sold with a whole bunch of canes shoved together
into one pot.

You are supposed to take the bunch out and separate the canes before
planting them, but the instructions don't always make this clear!

If you planted a whole potful of canes without separating them, that would
explain the 'knot of rootball' phenomenon, and they would be unlikely to
thrive packed in like that too.

Victoria