7 Step Raspberry Cane Tying Method with Glen Ample Canes on a 12-Metre Row

Why a 12-Metre Run Needs Two Wires, Not One

Glen Ample carries its fruit on second-year canes that reach 1.7 to 1.9 metres before the berries colour in July. A single top wire at 1.5 metres lets the top 30 to 40 centimetres of cane flop forward, and that is exactly the section carrying the heaviest trusses. The fix is a post-and-wire frame with two horizontal wires.

Drive a 2.4-metre treated softwood post at each end of the 12-metre row, sinking 60 centimetres into the ground so 1.8 metres stands clear. Add an intermediate post at the 6-metre midpoint to stop wire sag. Run 3.15mm galvanised line wire at 75 centimetres and again at 1.5 metres, tensioned with a Gripple or a simple straining bolt at one end. The lower wire holds the cane mid-section; the upper wire takes the fruiting tip. For a row this length you will tie somewhere between 40 and 50 canes across the season, so the two-wire layout earns its extra post within the first windy week of June.

Step 1 to Step 3: Selecting, Spacing, Bundling

Work the row before any string comes out.

Step 1. In early spring, count the live canes. Glen Ample produces more than it can ripen. Cut out anything thinner than a pencil, any cane snapped over winter, and anything growing more than 20 centimetres outside the row line. A 12-metre row supports 40 to 50 fruiting canes, which is roughly four canes per running 30 centimetres of wire.

Step 2. Space the keepers evenly along the lower wire. Glen Ample is vigorous, so crowding two canes into the same 8-centimetre gap shades the lower leaves and invites cane botrytis. Aim for one cane every 10 to 12 centimetres along the 12-metre line.

Step 3. Where two strong canes rise from one stool, separate them left and right before tying. This is the step most growers skip, and it is why a third of a row can lean the same direction by July. Splitting the pair distributes the load and opens the centre of each stool to air.

Step 4 and 5: The Tie Itself

Use soft jute twine or a 4mm soft-flexi tie. Hard nylon string cuts into the green cane as it swells through May and June.

Step 4. Tie each cane to the lower wire first, at 75 centimetres, with a figure-of-eight loop: the string crosses between cane and wire so the two never rub directly. Pull the cane upright but not rigid. A cane lashed bolt-straight to a wire has nowhere to give in wind and snaps at the tie point.

Step 5. Move to the upper wire at 1.5 metres and repeat the figure-of-eight. For canes that overtop the wire by more than 25 centimetres, bend the surplus along the top wire and tie it horizontally. This arching trick, sometimes called the Scandinavian bend, slows the sap and pushes more fruiting laterals along the bent section. On Glen Ample it can lift truss numbers on the top third of the cane noticeably.

A single cane therefore takes two ties on the lower passes and one or two on the upper, so a 45-cane row needs around 130 to 180 individual ties. Buy a 500-gram ball of jute and you have enough for the season with margin.

A Note on Timing

Tie before bud-break in March, not after. Once the canes are in full leaf the stems are brittle from rapid spring growth and far more likely to snap at the base while you bend them into position.

Step 6: Soil and Mulch Under the Tied Row

Glen Ample feeds heavily and roots shallow, so the surface under a tied row dries fast once leaf cover thickens. After tying, mulch the strip 6 to 8 centimetres deep with leaf mould or composted bark, keeping a 5-centimetre clear collar around each stool to deter cane midge laying at the base.

Leaf mould is the better choice here for two reasons. It holds water without locking up nitrogen the way fresh wood chip does, and it keeps the surface cool enough that the shallow feeder roots stay active through a dry June. If you made leaf mould the previous autumn from collected oak or beech leaves, a single year of rotting gives a crumbly mulch that suppresses annual weeds along the whole 12 metres. Top the mulch in February each year and the row never bakes hard.

Watering matters once the berries swell. A row this length carrying 40-plus canes can draw 30 to 40 litres in a dry week. A leaky-pipe line laid along the base under the mulch delivers that without wetting the foliage, which keeps botrytis pressure down on the tied, crowded canes.

Step 7: After Harvest, Cut and Re-Tie

Glen Ample fruits on canes that grew the previous year. Once the last berry comes off in late summer, those canes are spent.

Cut every fruited cane to ground level with bypass secateurs or loppers. Leave only this year’s new green canes standing. The new canes will already be 1.2 to 1.5 metres by August, leaning and untied, so the final step of the season is to thin them to the strongest 40 to 50 and tie them loosely to the lower wire for winter. A loose lower tie stops wind-rock at the base over winter; the full figure-of-eight tying waits for the next March.

The spent canes you remove are clean carbon and shred well for a path or for the leaf-mould heap once chopped. Do not leave them piled at the row end, where cane midge and spur blight overwinter in the old stems.

That closes the seven steps for one season, and the cycle restarts in spring with the live-cane count. One question the method leaves open is how hard to push the Scandinavian bend on the top wire: arch too many tips and the row’s air movement drops just when July humidity is climbing, so the trade between extra laterals and botrytis risk is one each grower settles by their own site rather than by a fixed rule.