Soft fruit (cane)
How to grow loganberries and tayberries
Rubus × loganobaccus and Rubus Tayberry Group
Plant loganberries and tayberries between November and March, 2.5 to 3 m apart, against a fence or post-and-wire support at least 1.8 m tall, in sun or light shade and rich soil that holds moisture. Both are raspberry and blackberry crosses grown the same way. Canes fruit in their second summer, so the key is keeping new canes tied separately from fruiting ones, then cutting the fruited canes to the ground in August.
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy
- Position
- Sun to light shade
- Soil
- Rich, moisture-retentive
- Ideal pH
- 6.0 to 6.5
- Water
- Moderate to high
- Feeding
- Moderate feeder
Sowing and planting loganberries and tayberries
WhenPlant Nov to Mar; harvest Jul to Aug
This page covers loganberry and tayberry together. The planting detail below is for loganberry; where the other differs, it is noted.
Starting off
Plant bare-root or pot-grown Nov to Mar. Propagate by tip layering in Aug to Sep, severing the rooted tip in spring, or lift rooted suckers in winter. Thornless LY654 is the usual choice; LY59 is the thorny original. Self-fertile.
Spacing and planting
2.5 to 3 m apart on posts 1.8 m tall with wires every 30 cm from 60 cm up; plant the crown at soil level and cut canes to 25 cm. Not a container plant, vigorous canes run 2.5 to 3 m.
Varieties worth growing
Loganberries and tayberries: what is the difference?
Both are crosses between a raspberry and a blackberry, and both are trained and pruned in the same way. The loganberry is the older plant, raised in California in the 1880s: its long, dull wine-red fruit is sharp and is at its best cooked, bottled or made into jam. The tayberry was bred in Scotland and named after the River Tay: its fruit is larger, sweeter and more aromatic, good eaten fresh, and it usually starts cropping a little earlier in July. Tayberry canes are slightly more easily scorched by frost. Choose tayberry for eating fresh and loganberry for the kitchen.
- Loganberry LY654Loganberry
- The thornless loganberry and the usual garden choice: easy to train and pick, with the true sharp flavour.
- Loganberry LY59Loganberry
- The thorny original selection, vigorous and heavy cropping; worth it where you have space and gloves.
- Buckingham TayberryTayberry
- Thornless form of the tayberry with the same large, sweet fruit; much the easier one to handle on wires.
- Tayberry MedanaTayberry
- The thorny original, sold as certified virus-free stock; strong canes and heavy crops of big aromatic berries.
- Tummelberry
- A later cross from the same Scottish breeding line as the tayberry, hardier and a little sharper; one for cold or exposed gardens.
Month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Plant bare-root plants in open weather. Check posts and tighten wires.
- February
Tip the canes back to sound wood. Leave tayberry canes bundled if hard frost is still likely.
- March
Fan out any canes still bundled and tie them to the wires. Feed, then mulch 8 cm deep. Last bare-root planting.
- April
New canes start from the base. Tie them in a loose column up the centre, clear of the fruiting canes.
- May
Keep tying in the new canes. Water in dry spells.
- June
Flowering and fruit set. Water weekly in drought. Net before the fruit colours.
- July
Pick every two to three days: tayberries from early in the month, loganberries a little later.
- August
Finish picking, then cut all fruited canes to the ground and fan this year's canes out along the wires. Tip-layer for new plants.
- September
Tie in any late growth. Check tip layers have rooted.
- October
Nothing to do. Order bare-root plants.
- November
Plant bare-root plants with the crown at soil level and cut the canes to 25 cm.
- December
Plant in open weather. Otherwise nothing to do.
Feeding loganberries and tayberries
Moderate feeders, between the light-feeding blackberry and the raspberry. A spring feed with potash and a deep mulch covers both plants; ease off if canes grow long and soft.
A moderate feed, as for other hybrid berries.
Feeding plan
Planting, November to March
5 g per litre of root-ball volume, touching the roots, once: 15 g for a plant from a 3 litre pot.
Late February to March
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
70 to 100 g/m² over about 2 m² around the crown: 140 to 200 g per plant, lightly raked in.
March, on light or sandy soil
20 to 35 g/m² (the label rate for fruit): 40 to 70 g per plant over the same 2 m².
March to April, after feeding
Garden compost
A mulch 8 cm deep over the root area, or well-rotted manure, renewed each spring.
Signs to watch
Young leaves yellow with green veins on chalk
Iron lockout
Sulphur, acidic mulch, seaweed, no lime
Older leaves yellow between the veins
Magnesium
Epsom salts or kieserite
Thin pale canes
Nitrogen short
Nitrogen feed and manure mulch
Rampant soft canes, few fruit
Nitrogen excess
Stop feeding
Pests, diseases and problems
Small white grubs in ripe fruit, with a dry brown patch at the stalk end
Raspberry beetle, which lays in the flowers of all cane fruit
Hang a raspberry beetle trap near the plants from late April. Check fruit as you pick and discard damaged berries.
New cane tips blackened and limp in spring, mostly on tayberry
Frost or cold wind scorch on canes spread out too early
In cold gardens leave the new canes bundled together over winter and fan them out on the wires in March. Cut scorched tips back to a healthy bud.
Grey fluffy mould on berries in a wet July
Grey mould (botrytis)
Space the fruiting canes 10 to 15 cm apart on the wires, pick every two to three days and remove any mouldy fruit.
Purple spots with pale centres on canes, leaves and stalks; canes crack
Cane spot, a fungus spread by rain splash
Cut out and bin badly marked canes at pruning time and keep new canes tied up off the ground.
Ripe fruit collapses and leaks, with tiny white maggots inside
Spotted wing drosophila
Pick promptly and remove every overripe or fallen berry. Bin damaged fruit rather than composting it. Fine insect mesh over the plant keeps the fly off.
Ripe berries pecked or missing
Birds
Hang netting over the wires from the time the fruit starts to colour.
Pruning and harvest
Pruning and care
Fruits on last year's canes: tie new canes up the centre through summer, keep them clear of the fruiting ones, then after harvest in Aug cut fruited canes to the ground and fan the new canes out across the wires. Tip canes in Feb. Mulch 8 cm with manure in spring. Gloves for the thorny form.
Harvest and storage
Ripe when deep wine-red and dull, glossy red fruit is sour; it pulls off with its plug. Pick every 2 to 3 days Jul to Aug over 5 to 6 weeks. Crops from year 2; a mature plant gives 4 to 6 kg. Fridge 2 days; freezes well, excellent jam and bottling.
Good to knowVigorous and usually thorny (thornless forms exist); keep old and new canes separate on the support.
Growing in pots
Neither plant is suited to a pot. The canes run 2.5 to 3 m in a season, need permanent wires, and the roots want a cool, deep, moist run that a container cannot give for long. If space is tight, train one plant flat along a fence, where a thornless form takes up very little depth, or grow a compact blackberry or autumn raspberry in a pot instead.
Common questions
How do you prune loganberries and tayberries?
Prune straight after harvest in August by cutting every cane that has fruited down to the ground. Then spread the new canes grown this year along the wires in their place, and shorten the tips to sound wood in February.
Can you eat loganberries raw?
Yes, but only when fully ripe, which is when the fruit turns a dull, deep wine red; bright glossy berries are sour. Even ripe, loganberries are sharp and most people prefer them cooked. Tayberries are sweeter and are the better choice for eating fresh.
Do loganberries and tayberries need a pollinator?
No, both are self-fertile, so a single plant will crop on its own. One established plant is usually enough for a household.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.