Neglected Raspberries

[lhaynes]

Hello All,
I see a lot of info here about planting and caring for raspberries; and it is all very helpful...
There are raspberries in my grandfather's yard in Massachusetts and I will soon be moving into his home. It's not a large area (but they are trying to spread of course), maybe 10 ft x 10 ft originally. He had been unable to care for his yard for about the last 10 or 15 yrs; as he was 95 when he passed this last Dec. Meanwhile, I did notice they bore some fruit this summer although they seem past fruiting now (late July). My sister has been living there for a while, but I know she has not done anything to the plants at all. It is important to me to preserve these raspberries if possible...they are the last fruit bearing plants left on the land, which once had pear and apple trees!
If anyone would be so kind as to give me an idea of what I should be doing first and foremost to help these poor things along...I know I will have to prune out the dead stuff. Is it okay to do that in August or should I wait? I have no idea what variety they are; and I'm not close enough to look right now! Thanks!
Lisa

[peachguy]

I know one thing do not prune them right now in auugest it is better to wait until fall I could help you more if you knew if they are everbearing, summer bearing, or fall bearing. But it will just good to prune them come fall also once they are pruned you may consider building a trellis for them, like wire every two feet off the ground I learned this from a website and seeing it for my self. The wire helps when they bear fruit cuz they can bend over/snap from weight of fruit.

[lhaynes]

Thanks Peachguy,
So, wait til the fall...ooh it's going to be awfully tempting to not get in there and start messing around! I wonder about fertilizer and all. One thing I know for sure is that when Grampy was tending his gardens...he was a master green thumb...he was also a composter, so I am sure that is what he used on them.
I will be going there this weekend so, now that I've done a little research, I will try to determine exactly what the plants are doing now...besides growing into a big wild bushy bunch! I can also find out from my sister just how much fruit she got...she atleast got enough to have some on her cereal for a while.
Thanks...I will be asking more questions when I try to rejuvenate his once beautiful vegetable garden area!
Lisa

[lhaynes]

Well, okay I spent some time this past weekend wading around in those raspberries; first of all pulling weeds which in the back had gotten as tall as me (I think ragweed? Achoo!) and discovered that the raspberries were once contained to about a 4 x 6 area and have begun to spread across the yard. He had a bed sectioned off with brick edging. As they have spread, my brother has just kind of kept mowing around them, so away they went.
I still cannot tell what kind they are; I did NOT see any spent stems, everything looked green and healthy. Some were still quite short and some were getting rather tall. Most were about knee high.
He also has some climbing roses, tiger lily, and iris thrown in there for good measure, I guess...so now that it is weeded hopefully atleast they can all breathe a little bit!
Well, any ideas about all this would be welcomed.
Lisa