Raspberry Pruning Question

I planted three raspberry plants, that I bought from Whole Foods, this spring. They have done wonderfully, even giving a fair amount of berries this summer, but now I am wondering about how to prune them for maximum health going into winter. I have heard that pruning raspberries depends on the variety. Unfortunately, I don't know the variety. Does anyone have advice for pruning these without knowing the variety that won't kill them.

Of course, I will be looking to identify the variety in the meantime.

Thanks.

I would not prune them at all now, not knowing for sure what they are. Next year remove the dead canes (if any).

Hi,

As a former Master Gardner volunteer for the University of Illinois Extension, I often refer to their research-based response. There is a nice article on pruning raspberries.

FYI: to locate this article I used keywords: raspberry pruning illinois extension

Regards,

How you prune depends on when you want to pick. I cut off every single cane to the ground in early spring. The result is a heavy crop of big berries in late summer (Aug. - frost).

Using razbry's pruning method on so-called June or summer bearing raspberries will prevent any fruit production for the year but is pretty commonly used by commercial growers for their September, fall or ever bearing varieties. This method sacrifices the early crop in favor of a larger fall crop. Red raspberries come in both June and September bearing types. Black and purple raspberries are all June bearing. Knowing which type you have is very important because the pruning techniques are very different.

There are only two bearing patterns but several names for each pattern.

Maybe if the OP were more specific about when the raspberries had fruit, the pruning information could be tailored?

The essential information is the type. The variety name is relevant only to the extent that it can help identify the type via search.

Looks like it is a Nova, Summer Bearing Raspberry.