I have a decent patch of autumn fruiting raspberries in my garden at home, they grow a little wild sending out runners everywhere but I quite like that. During winter I chop the whole lot down to the ground and put the spent canes somewhere dry, usually the greenhouse or shed. When the time comes to sow peas I use the old raspberry canes as pea sticks, pushing the canes into the soil around the pea rows. Not only do they give the pea plants something to cling to as they grow, the spiky canes form a sort of barrier, protecting the young seedlings from pests such as slugs, snails and pigeons.
Spent raspberry canes make great pea sticks and best of all they’re free and readily available!
Published by Allotment Haven
Step inside the world of allotments, where people grow vegetables on rented parcels of land and drink tea in their characterful sheds. From times of hardship during wartime famine to present day, allotments are great places to connect with the land and each one has its own identity and gardening style.
Hi I'm Karen, I’ve had an allotment since 2011 and grow food using the ‘no dig’ approach to gardening. I'm passionate about the fascinating wildlife I share my allotment with and strive to garden with them in mind, creating habitats and encouraging natural predators to help keep my allotment productive.
The aim of this blog is to document the growing year on my allotments, share the ups and downs of allotment life and hopefully inspire others to get an allotment too!
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Allotment Haven 
We have a ready supply of hazel twigs that we use to support our peas. We planted a couple of bushes some years ago and usually pollard one each year. I have never heard of Jaguar peas maybe one to look out for.
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Hi Sue, they’re lovely tasty fat peas, beautifully sweet so not many make it to the house. Hazel is great for peas, I use hazel poles for my beans.
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That’s a great idea, I shall remember it. Sugar snap peas are one of my favourite things to grow.
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Hi CJ, I find the prickly canes help to keep slugs and snails to a minimum and pigeons off very young seedlings. I love sugar snap too, there’s a purple variety called ‘Sugar Magnolia’ that I’d love to try over at Real Seeds.
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