This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Rasberries
Graham Elton
Posts: 1
in Fruit & veg
My rasberries are inundated whith nettles and couch grass.
For the last three years I have tried hand weeding to no avail the couch grass grows taller than the canes and is very unsightly.
Before I resort to digging out the canes,clearing the plot and re planting is there a weed killer I can apply that will control the weeds without kiling of the rasberry canes?
0
Posts
Graham, how old are the raspberry canes themselves? The reason I ask is that viruses tend to build up in them over time which reduces their health and cropping potential so it might well be worth digging everything up, replenishing the soil and starting again with fresh stock.
PS: to answer your question, their is no weedkiller which is that selective and, personally I would never use weedkiller anywhere near and edible crop of any kind; It's just not worth the risk as new unexpected side-effects of once-throught-safe pesticides and herbicides are being discovered all of the time.
Last edited: 28 November 2016 19:01:13
To be fair my old raspberries have a load of nettles and buttercups in between them. I cut the weeds down as I pick,. Its looks messy but I still get plenty of raspberries.
I would put new plants in a new place, crop rotation is always the best way to grow anything.