Malling Jewel Raspberry Canes

• Variety: Malling Jewel, an early to midsummer Raspberry
• Latin name: Rubus idaeus 'Malling Jewel'
• Type: Summer fruiting: it crops on last year's canes
• Season: Early to midsummer
• Fruit: Red, firm and juicy, with good flavour and yield
• Growth: Compact. Canes 1.5 to 2.5m tall
• Spacing: 40 to 50cm apart, in rows 1.5 to 2m apart
• Best soil and site: Moist, well-drained loam or sand, acid to neutral. Full sun, with shelter
• Stock: UK grown and certified virus-free
• Sold as: Bareroot canes
• Wildlife: RHS Plants for Pollinators
• Hardiness: H6, hardy through the British winter
• RHS Award of Garden Merit: Yes (1993)
• Delivered: Bareroot, November to April. Collection from Castle Cary also available

Malling Jewel is a compact summer Raspberry that crops in early to midsummer, with firm red berries of good flavour that hang well on the cane when ripe. It holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit, and our canes are UK grown and certified virus-free.

Malling Jewel Raspberry Plants

The aficionados of the raspberry world will all recommend Malling Jewel Raspberry as one of their top summer fruiting canes. The berries take about 3-4 weeks to ripen in early summer and turn a deep red when ripe. They're larger and juicier than most while remaining firm. Each cane produces a reliable and moderate but not overwhelming crop and the enormous advantage with this variety is that a ripe raspberry will hang on its bush for a good week without becoming over-ripe and mushy. The flavour is excellent which is why Malling Jewel holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit and deserves its place in our list of UK grown raspberries. These are certified raspberry plants grown from virus-tested parent material in the UK.

A Kitchen Garden Staple

Raspberries are a staple ingredient in so much English cooking: summer pudding, raspberry jam and scones, raspberry ripple ice-cream, not to mention raspberry vinegar or vodka. Freeze them on trays before you bag them up and they'll supply you with vitamin C through the winter too.

Raspberries are easy to grow and generally do not need spraying. The only thing you will need to add to your kitchen garden is a permanent support for the canes in the form of post and wires and you will need to net the fruits otherwise the birds will have the lot. That may sound like a lot of work but the plants last for decades and get bigger and more productive as time passes and the taste of a home-grown raspberry is an utterly different experience from the chilled, supermarket version. Oh, and you don't have all that plastic to deal with either. Put your fruit cage anywhere in the garden bar north facing and then invest in a few other raspberry varieties so that you can keep picking through to November (if you choose an autumn fruiting one).

History & Trivia

Raspberries come originally from Asia and the eastern Mediterranean where you can often see them growing wild. The raspberry has been subject to much breeding and hybridising and a lot of this has taken place at the East Malling Research station in Kent. It's an independent provider of research, development and consultancy services for the food and agriculture industries and it's because of their work that so many raspberries have 'Malling' in their name.

Standard practice is to deliver raspberry canes with last year's growth cut back to 45-60 cm.

Therefore, summer fruiting raspberries will bear few, if any, berries in the Summer following planting. Their first full fruiting season will be in the year after.

Planting Companions

Plant a run of varieties and you pick for months. Glen Clova comes before Malling Jewel, Glen Ample and Tulameen follow it, Octavia closes the summer, and an autumn type such as Autumn Bliss takes over from there. Dust the roots with Rootgrow as you plant.

Why Buy Your Raspberry Canes from Ashridge?

Ashridge has sold plants since 1949 and is a Which? Best Plant Supplier 2025. Your Malling Jewel canes are UK grown and certified virus-free, lifted to order while dormant and guaranteed for 12 months. Plant them between November and April, and they will establish readily.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does Malling Jewel fruit?

In early to midsummer. In a run of summer Raspberries it follows Glen Clova and comes before Glen Ample, and the berries ripen over three to four weeks.

Will you get fruit in the first summer?

Few, if any. Your canes arrive cut back to 45 to 60cm, and a summer Raspberry fruits on the canes it grew the year before. The first full crop comes the year after planting.

How do you prune it?

As a summer fruiting Raspberry. Cut all the fruited canes down to the ground in early to mid autumn, and tie in the new ones.

Does it need support?

Yes. Grow Raspberries in rows between parallel wires. Put up posts and wires when you plant, and net the fruit against birds.

What soil suits it?

Moist, well-drained loam or sand that is acid to neutral, in full sun with some shelter. A mulch of acidic material such as composted bark suits them well.

How far apart do you plant the canes?

We plant them 40 to 50cm apart, with 1.5 to 2 metres between the rows.

When are the canes delivered?

Bareroot only, from November to April, while the canes are dormant. You can order at any time of year and your canes are lifted and sent once the season opens.