Raspberry Hedge

No thoughts at all (no change there, then). My raspberries are carp this year, thistles or no. Aphids have been dreadful and drought hasn't helped.

Mine are terrible too, some of the plants barely a couple of feet tall. It's getting on 8 years since they were first planted so I was just assuming they were getting to the end of their productive lifespan, but you mentioning a rubbish raspberry year is making me think twice.

The hot weather and lack of rain hasn't been kind to my raspberries. 
I was considering getting some new aphid resistant canes, but I'm in the process of reconsidering. The poor canes are indeed old, a lot older than 8yrs, but my plan is to dig up some healthier ones from where they've spread beyond the row and replace the duff ones.  I find the autumn raspberries don't suffer so much from aphids, so I could go fully promocane. In reality,  I expect I'll just muddle along as things are, just as I've been doing for years.

Mine are like a mix of both of these. In the original row the canes, if you can call them that, are generally very small but where they have spread into the red currants/black currant bushes. They are growing to 6 to 8 feet ( they have to to get some light) and these are cropping quite well. So I need to get some of the stronger canes and plant a new row, hopefully this winter. There a a few that have made it into a poly tunnel which will be easier to get at. But I had a big list of jobs to do last winter and quite a few are still outstanding.