Raspberry patch overgrown with coarse grass - Ask Extension
Hi please see pic. My raspberries are being completely choked out by wild grass. I am opposed to herbicides. My thought is to dig up most plants and...
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Raspberry patch overgrown with coarse grass #930975
Asked May 07, 2026, 5:39 PM EDT
Hi please see pic. My raspberries are being completely choked out by wild grass. I am opposed to herbicides. My thought is to dig up most plants and temporarily plant in buckets. Then rent a rototiller and rototill the bed. Then remove all that weed infested soil. Then replace with clean fresh soil and replant the raspberries. Thoughts?
(I feel like rototilling will make the soil removal much easier)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/m2eiV7nYDtAJvVMr8
Anchorage County Alaska
Expert Response
You could go that route if you wanted. Although, raspberry roots tend to be difficult to dig up. As an alternative, you could do some weeding of the grasses that are between the raspberry plants and then place weed barrier fabric (typar) along each side of the row. Many people used weed barrier fabric for their raspberries to keep the weeds at a minimum.
