what to safely prune?

rosie383

Hi all you lovely greenfingered people.
We have sold our house and I want to leave it as nice as possible for the new owners. The lawn is no problem but there's a rabbit run which has a few holes needing filled in.
I have a couple of vegetable patches one of which has a lot of quite rampant raspberry canes which have now finished fruiting. Can I cut them down now or would that kill them? No idea if the new owners want them for next year but I would like them to have the option.
I also have a bed with strawberries which are finished for this year but have a lot of weed around them which is quite difficult to remove and I would really like to use my dutch hoe (or is it Spanish?). Would the easiest thing be to lift out the strawberries, clear the whole thing and then replant the strawberries?

wallbash

one of which has a lot of quite rampant raspberry canes which have now finished fruiting

Will answer the easy question.
You must have a summer variety, Autumn ones have just started to ripen .
Summer ones fruit on existing canes which did not produce fruit.
So remove only the ones which fruited this year.

Seems a good plan for the strawberries AND discard a third .

rosie383

It's a jungle of canes so how do I know which ones fruited nor not?
And when you say to discard a third what do you mean? Of the strawberry plants? They were all ones that I planted new this year as runners from old plants that needed to be moved.

wallbash

It's a jungle of canes so how do I know which ones fruited nor not?

They will have the remains of the old husks.

Reading OP gave the impression it was an established strawberry bed.

rosie383

I'm a bit of a novice so you would know better than me. The strawberries seem to have finished fruiting with no sign of new flowers. No idea if tthat means it's an established bed or not! It's their first season in that bed.
Thanks for the info re the raspberries. Will give that a go later. Well, once I manage to find my secateurs! That's the problem with decluttering ready to move. I can't find stuff!!!

wallbash

Lift the strawberries. weed and stick them back. Strawberries are very hardy if you neatly replant them in a weed free bed, with all the runners discarded it will look great.

Mojisola

rosie383 wrote: »

We have sold our house and I want to leave it as nice as possible for the new owners.

If the new owners have seen the garden as it is, they might have their own plans for it. Apart from normal weeding and cutting the lawn, I'd leave it to them.

rosie383

With the weather we have had since they saw it, it has got very jungly all of a sudden as I have been so busy I haven't had a chance to do anything out there. Just want to tidy it up a bit.
Thanks for the advice folks. The heavens have just opened here so will leave it for today.

wallbash

The heavens have just opened here so will leave it for today.

Hoping the rain has passed as hosting a BBQ for 20 + and awaiting first arrivals ........they can carry out some chairs!

rosie383

Thanks so much for all.the advice. I have been out and tackled the jungle and it's looking so much better. Definitely easy to see which canes needed cut down and which to leave once I actually got started.