Raspberry Hedge

Earlier this year I had a good cut back on my raspberry canes and formed a nice straight hedge which hopefully I will be able to net easily later when the fruit appear. Just a quick photo

   

Looks fabulous Can!

I have had the most fantastic fruiting this year, last week I took about 2-3 kg of fruit and again today. I have a theory and would love others thoughts. It’s around companion planting. I’m n the poly tunnel I grow basil, nasturtiums and marigolds with my tomatoes and peppers. This year I have had a serious growth of thistles all through my raspberry hedge and I have been getting the most amazing fruit in size, flavour and perfume and I am wondering if the thistles are contributing?.
Any thoughts ?

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.

I'm not very experienced in companion planting, but that sounds like a good theory, Can! Test it again for next year and see if you get the same results! I'd have to make notes of that though, or I'd forget lol

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.

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.

Hi Can, I wouldn't think thistle, particularly creeping ones would be a good companion for raspberries which also creep. We have had record amounts of sunshine this spring and early summer. If you have had the same it's likely all the sunshine would help as long as they got enough water as well. I've only got autumn raspberries but take a small crop off them in the spring which was about 2kg this year and the quality was excellent.

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.

Thanks for all the comments, just to let you know I do a strong cut back of the older canes every year, and I replant a number of the runners back into the hedge where the older canes thinned out. I’m probably lucky with regards watering as I live on a bog and my garden is raised up so I get good drainage and it tends to drain off towards the hedge where the raspberries grow.
The thistles are not creepers they are individual standalone ones big monsters with purple tops like the Scottish ones. I am just stamping them down for the moment as they all have tap roots that needs to be dug out.