I planted raspberry bushes in my small yard two years ago. This was my first experience with berry bushes and I didn't realize how incredibly rapidly they would take over. My garden was quickly overtaken last summer. As such, I tore out the bushes by the roots. Nonetheless, four more new shoots appeared within a month, which I removed by the root. I live in a townhouse community and this spring there are now shoots appearing in the common yard, and in my neighbors' yards on the other side of our shared fence. Obviously this is not ideal.

Is there a practical way to:

(1) Successfully contain the spread of raspberry bushes?
(2) If not, after removing raspberry bushes, how can one stop continued spread and regrowth?

you can create a border that is hostile to your berries that will slow the spread.Cut and remove the sod from the perimeter of your patch,Till in lots of limestone and water purifier salt into the soil around your berry patch. It will take quite a bit of salt/ limestone (aim for an 8.0 PH). After you have it tilled in cover it with a double layer of landscapers fabric and spread a 1" layer of rock over the top. When you're finished you will have a nice looking border that your berries will struggle very hard to grow in.

Your raspberries are just doing that comes naturally! Raspberries are self-replicating, sending forth new shoots each year, called primocanes, that will bear fruit the following year, then die. That's one of the cool things about raspberries; once you've established a patch, it will fruit for many years--even decades-- without buying new plants. Here's a short U Maine video about growing raspberries: http://bit.ly/10yFXoO

To get a good crop, and to keep plants from taking over the landscape, you need to prune your summer-fruiting raspberry patch every spring, cutting off the dead canes that bore fruit last year, and selecting the strongest live canes to fruit this year. Here's another good U Maine Extension video on how to do it: http://bit.ly/10yFvXH

Some varieties are especially exuberant in shoot production, so they'll keep you very busy pruning, since the roots keep sending out new shoots all season long.

If it is an area where you can mow just keep it mowed. If you want to remove them and never have them come back I would suggest some round up.