Why are my rasberries dying in certain parts of my patch?

[mardi-mardi]

I planted a patch of Golden rasberries about 4 years ago and then added red rasberries from a neighbors garden about two years ago. They grew slow but we have gotten a few more rasberries each year with the orginal plants and we did get a few red rasberries last year. This year they are growing very patchy. It apears that some of the plants have died off. We cut them back like each year but some of the plants have no or very little new growth. I can pull the dead plant right out of the ground. I put plant fertilizer on them at the beginning of each year and the get watered by the sprinklers every other day. The plants are in a corner of our yard in a 4x14 foot fenced in area. Why might the middle of my patch be dead?

[pd]

Might the drainage be less good where the affected plants are. Raspberries won't tolerate their roots being constantly saturated.

[Diane]

I agree with pd. I don't water my raspberry patches unless it hasn't rained in a while or the ground looks dry. We have had rain almost every day for over a month, so, I haven't watered.
My red raspberries fruit on 2 and 3 year old canes. I think I cut back some of the 2 year old because my harvest is a bit smaller than last year.
It needed thinning anyway....

[techlawbird]

I agree with pd, you might be over watering.