There's a certain satisfaction in pruning berry fruit plants. That’s not only because it’s such a ruthless, brutal job, it also rejuvenates the plants.
And, we don’t need to wait until winter to get stuck in: the best times are immediately after harvesting.
Removing dead branches, exhausted canes and weak, congested growth now it’s an effective way to control pests and diseases.
Blackcurrant bushes thrive after a hard pruning. That’s because so much vigorous, healthy new growth is stimulated by this treatment.
Keep in mind that blackcurrant crops are always carried in new growth so the more young wood that results, the better and bigger the crop the following year.
Old blackcurrant branches are almost black. They always become pitted with borer holes and are totally nonproductive.
They can be cut out right down to just above ground level.
In fact, bright, new, pale-green growth buds can usualy be seen around the bases of bushes. If old, diseased and grub-infested branches are cut off just above these new buds, healthy shoots immediately appear.
Some traditional blackcurrant growers actually cut entire bushes off just above soil level every year to ensure good, disease-free crops.
After pruning, give each plant a very slow, deep watering. Afterwards, it’s a good idea to add half a cup each of fish emulsion and seaweed concentrate to 10 litres of water and apply it around bushes.
Redcurrant bushes are treated differently: they are never cut back hard. Instead, they are pruned after harvesting, but only to remove dead branches or to thin overcrowded bushes.
Healthy branches are cut back by about one quarter.
Raspberry canes always die, even as they are carrying fruit. This is why leaves are already shrivelling on stems, while bearing heavy crops of berries.
New replacement canes have been sprouting from roots since late spring.
It’s an easy task to cut out all dead canes right down to the ground and drag them free.
Any suckering canes sprouting between plants, or even between rows, can be grubbed out.
However, if extra raspberry plants are needed, leave these volunteers untouched until winter before lifting and replanting.
After raspberry plants have been pruned, most remaining, healthy canes tend to flop all over the place.
A piece of string can be slipped around each cluster to tie them into loose, self-supporting bundles.
Extra-tall raspberry canes develop tips that bend over, becoming almost hook-like.
These can be cut off to leave relatively straight canes about head high.
Autumn-bearing raspberry canes — easily identified now by clusters of immature flower-buds — are not pruned until May or June, otherwise there will be no autumn fruit.
These plants carry heavy crops in December and January and additional, lighter crops in autumn.
It’s a good idea to prune these valuable summer and autumn-bearing raspberry varieties in a special way to increase berry yields.
Select 10 per cent of them and cut every cane to the ground in winter so there is nothing showing above the ground.
Down below, the roots remain perfectly healthy. In spring, new shoots sprout from the ground to rapidly form fruit-bearing canes. However, being so young, they do not fruit as part of the main crop around Christmas, but carry far heavier crops of fat raspberries the following autumn. Brambles such as thornless blackberry and loganberry are usually grown secured to wires or climbing frames.
They, too, send out long, vigorous canes during summer, which bear fruit the following summer.
After fruiting they die, even as new replacements are sprouting around them.
Pruning is nothing more than cutting out all dead canes to the ground.
However, it helps if all new, replacement canes are carefully bundled together and tied to one side of frames or wires.
This makes fruit harvesting much simpler because berries are close together. It also allows netting to be thrown over to keep thieving birds at bay.
After harvesting, entire bundles — which now comprise dead canes — can be quickly cut off at ground level, even as the new canes are secured on the opposite side of supports.
Blueberry canes that are fewer than three years old are best left unpruned — apart from removing dead wood. Older bushes are simply thinned by cutting out old, exhausted branches.
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