Most of the people I know grow them as a bush and cut them in Autumn all the way. They get their raspberry fruits in late Summer. I grow my raspberries on a fence (easier to tend them) and cut them in early spring. This way we have fruits from June till August.

My pruning time depends on the weather, last year I did it earlier and this year I did it today. The reason is I wait for the branches to get small leaves to see which branches are good and which are old.

 Of course, you could do it before they get leaves, but I’m more secure that I’m cutting the right branches.

They look like a jungle before pruning, but I find this way easier and more effective.

Pruning is really simple. Just cut the old branches off, leave the live ones, and cut them to the size you want.

Old branches are easy to notice, they are dry, and they break really easy. Most of the time they will break before you even cut it.

Every branch you cut inside has a vascular cambium and a heart part. The vascular part is the part of the branch that helps branches to grow. It is the circle inside the bark. When the plant is alive it looks like a green ring around the heart of the branch.

When the branch is dead this part is dry and usually light brown. If you are not sure if the branch is alive cut at the top of the branch and if it is green leave it, if it looks like this then cut it.

This can be applied for pruning blackberries also.
If you have a fence then push all the live branches inside the fence(if you have 2 wires that hold the branches like I have), or just tie them to your wire. Live branches are very flexible. You can bend them the way you want them to go. Just bend them at the lowest part you can, they are strongest at the root so if you have to push them through the wires bend the whole branch to the ground first and then push it through the wire.

When you finish with selecting your branches you can cut them in the size you want them to be. I always cut them the same size as the metal pole so they fill the fence and don’t get in the way while we work in the garden.