J Jackson wrote:
Colin Hammond wrote:


Snip

Thank you Colin and J.
In fact, I ended up reasoning with myself that I wasn't beyond planting
proper stakes, nor putting proper strong wire between them. I visited
my friendly local garden centre last week end - about 200 yards from my
house - and purchased some 6ft tall tree stakes from them. I did as
Colin suggested. I drilled a series of holes along the length of the
(chamfered square section) stakes, planted one at each end of the my
three rows of 3 raspberry plants (each). I still have the blisters in
my hand to prove the effort of hammering the stakes deep enough for
them to be solid. I then threaded strong metal wire through the holes,
making the wires taut, and then using some wee gadgety plant ties tied
the fresh shoots to the wires. I'm affraid this latter part was only
partly successful, the ties being unsuitable - they're a sort of semi
closed c shaped plastic thingy, and the wires or the shoots can - and
do - escape. I'll have to rethink that this week end - good old
loosely tied raphia, maybe.
All in all, my stakes may not be absolutely level and straight, one of
them refused to get planted quite as deeply as the others, but I am
quite pleased with myself.
Yet again, I discover that nothing is quite as impossible as it might
first seem :-)
As to the necessity for netting, I have learned from this year's
magically disappearing modest crop that I would most definitely have to
plan for that next year.


Cat(h)
The world swirls...