Pruning and protecting bush fruit

We have several type of fruit bushes on our allotment and generally speaking they fall into two categories in how we prune them. I'm not suggesting that this way of pruning is the correct method but it's what works for us.

 

Pruning Gooseberries and Jostaberries

Generally speaking my aim when pruning gooseberries and jostaberries is to open up the centre of the plants and to remove any spindly twiggy stems or any that cross into the centre of the plant. I also remove any branches that are deformed in some way.

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In the case of the gooseberry pruning can be a painful exercise and so I recommend that gloves are worn. Opening up a gooseberry plant also allows airflow through the plant and  should decrease the chances of the plant falling foul of mildew.

Jostaberries are far larger than gooseberries and so as well as treating the plants in the same way as above, I also reduce the length of the longest stems.

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Pruning red and black currants

I prune gooseberries and jostaberries every year but only prune the currants when I think that they need it.

 

When I do prune our currant bushed I take out some of the very old branches down to ground level and also take out any weak and spindly growth. Currants are produced on three year old wood and so some older stems need to be retained. I also take out any dead wood or broken branches,

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In the case of redcurrants I also reduce the height of the bush so that we can more easily protect the fruit.

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At the first sign of any redness on redcurrants blackbirds will home in and can quickly strip a bush of its fruit so it is important to net the plants. We create a makeshift fruit cage which is just high enough for me to enter in order to pick the fruit comfortably.

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One point to note is that birds can become entangled if the netting is left loose at the base of the cage. For this reason we have used wooden poles to hold the netting down around the bottom of the cage. You could also use chicken wire.

 

Pruning blueberries

I only give blueberries a light pruning. Often the tips of the branches die back over winter and so these are trimmed back. Any dead wood is cut out along with any branches that are touching the ground. I'll also be on the lookout for any old branches that don't produce fruit and will cut those put too.

 

Like redcurrants, blueberries are a favourite of blackbirds and so need to be netted as soon as the berries begin to ripen.  Blueberries will hang onto the bush for quite a long time and so I tend to leave rope berries on the plant until enough are ripe to give a useful harvest. I have also found that if berries are accidentally picked before they are fully ripe they will ripen off the plant.

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In autumn blueberry leaves turn a vivid red and eve if they didn't produce delicious berries they would be worth growing in a shrub border just for the autumn colour and their pretty flowers.

 

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