Hey all,

I have some 3 year old establishes raspberries in the ground in my gardenS. I want to switch them to raised beds. The rest of my garden is raised beds and much easier to keep the rows clear of grass. Can this be done without digging them up? I was wondering if I built a bed around them and filled it in with soil, would the raspberry baby plants be able to make their way up, while suffocating any grass?

Welcome, KelsBels13.

Building the bed around the raspberries won't keep any weed seeds from growing but if you remove all stray grass and weeds first, mulch heavily when you're done, it will be a big help. The raspberries do make it up from the soil even if it's more than what they've had in the past. The roots of the raspberries will also spread underground and emerge all around the raised box. Be prepared to find them and move them.

My problem has been getting the grass out. I had a bad batch of straw mulch that left so much grass seed in the raspberries. If the grass is cut down to ground level, do you think 12-18" in top would suffocate it enough?

I fear digging out the grass is the solution. Putting 12 to 18" of anything on top might not allow the raspberries to grow and that's what you want. Is there any chance you could dig the entire plot, including raspberries, to remove the grass and all roots of it, separating and then plant your raspberries? I also have them and know working around them can be highly irritating to the skin.