I'm determined to find a solution, because I really don't want to give up the plants. I still need to check with the lady down the road, and see if hers have somehow escaped from the buckets. Haven't seen her outside in ages, but I'll keep checking. Her plants are growing great though, so that is a plus! I'm sure that they would do better with more room, and a stock tank wouldn't break the bank. I can probably find a used one around here too.

We have lost several trees in the woods this year which has opened up some sunny spots. I would like to plant some raspberries in those spots and just let them do whatever they like. We use to have berry patches but they were so much work. We discovered a berry farm about 6miles down the road that uses no chemicals, and we pick there now. We just let him do all the work, lol.

I was going to ask a similar question, except I already was planning on using root barriers. I remember finding somewhere
Online that sold them specifically for raspberries but of course I can't remember where now. I tried googling it and I did find some on amazon. They are tree root barriers and come in different depths. They are about $60 for the smallest roll and I want to make sure they are deep enough before I spend the $$ They come in 24" or less.

Meredith, I wish I could tell you how deep the roots are, but I'm not sure. Some were about 6 inches down, and others were further. Some I couldn't find. So, no telling how deep they are. And, it could be that different varieties have different roots, but I have no idea if that is true or not. I don't know which kind of raspberries I have, since they came with our house.

Good luck, and please let us all know if that barrier works, if you decide to get it!

Thanks! I was searching and found this http://www.foodproduction101.c... It says 9" is deep enough.

Let's try this page. Couldn't click on the link...

http://www.foodproduction101.c...

Very interesting! I sure hope this works! Thanks so much for sharing!

Still searching and found this PDF https://www.google.com/url?sa=... that says 90% of the roots lie in the first 20" of soil and "You can confine blackberries and raspberries to small
garden beds by burying 14-inch-wide strips of aluminum
or galvanized steel flashing (used in roofing) around the
outsides of the beds." Hmmm

Thanks Meredith.

The flashing is out of the question for me, as I'm sure I'd trip and fall on it and lose my head. If it was rolled at the top, it wouldn't be so bad, but it kind of freaks me out just thinking about it! That is why I was thinking about a stock tank buried in the ground. It's metal, but rolled along the top, and would be much safer.

I agree, Natalie -- I'm pretty sure I'd find some way to injure myself on that stuff!

When I was 3 years old, I cut my hand on Dad's gun cleaning kit. It was made of metal, and the edge wasn't all that sharp, but I managed to bounce off the couch, and right onto the edge. I had put my hand down first, to brace my fall. The doctor thought I'd lose my hand, but it is fine. I have no loss of use, and I eventually got all of the feeling back in it, so I was a very lucky. I have a nice diagonal scar all the way across the palm of my hand, which oddly enough, has grown with my hand, and it reminds me to stay far away from sharp metal edges!

Owie! but for not having any residual problems from it...

I was lucky, for sure! Had a LOT of stitches! Since then though, I don't go near sharp metal!

"I don't go near sharp metal!"

Good policy!!

for many years I used tomato cages made of fencing that had been cut with wire cutters -- which leaves really sharp, pointy ends... not a year went by that I didn't give blood to those things multiple times (I really love the wooden cages that we now use )

I was thinking of sticking to plastic root barrier, I was thinking the metal may eventually rot. The getting hurt is another good reason now that you mention it!

Natalie how are the berries doing for you? If you need help disposing of a few thornless raspberries I'll happily take a few suckers off your hand this fall/winter. I have some erect growing thornless blackberries I can send you in return. They don't tip root and only send up suckers when the soil is disturbed. if interested message me and I'll let you know what I have. Thanks and good luck.

Daniel, they are doing good in the 5 gallon buckets, growing like weeds. The rest are dead, or I'd send you some. I have thornless blackberries already, but I appreciate the offer.

glad you got them tamed, I hope they do well for you in the buckets.

Glad to hear your good news, Natalie. I clearly recall when you had to dig them though you had other, more urgent, gardening jobs.

I planted a 12' row of raspberry plants and they grew wonderfully. I enclosed them with railroad timbers thinking that should keep them out of the rest of the garden. No such luck. I eventually took a chainsaw and cut them down then painted each stump with weed killer; a systemic that would kill the roots. It took a while but eventually they all died. I was really bummed as I really love raspberries. I may try the bucket idea and use very large planters. I bought some from Costco that looked like whiskey barrels and were 18" deep and about 30" across the top. Made of a heavy rubber. I wouldn't bury them and might even put some sort of metal pad under them to assure they didn't somehow dig their way out. Would I only be able to plant one in each bucket? And they would have to be fertilized regularly to deep producing fruit?

Mary Stella, I bought those same planters from Costco! I love them! I've got gourds planted in mine, and I hope they do good. I have a pergola over my deck that has a retractable top, but the wind always blows the top open. I'm hoping that the gourds will cover the pergola instead, and we can get some much needed shade on the deck.

I have no idea if the raspberries are going to do okay in the buckets, but I hope they will be fine. At least they look very healthy right now. I planted a clump in one, and then two in each of the others. Lost one in one bucket, but there is still one growing in there. I'll be shocked if I get any raspberries this year, but I'm fine with it if I don't. At least I got them out of the daylilies, which was more important than anything. I drilled holes in the bottoms of the buckets, and then lined them with plastic landscape fabric. I sure hope that works to contain the roots.