Kitchen Garden Forum

I have inherited some blackcurrant bushes on my new plot, which are about 6 years old. This month's KG advises pruning around now, "cutting out the older branches and removing about one third of the stems each year ". I am new to pruning fruit bushes, but these appear to have been "tipped and tidied up" but not cut back to the base. So there is a lot of old wood. all with this year's new shoots.

Do I just cut about a third of the old wood back to the base, even though it has healthy new shoots? How much stump of each old wood should I leave?

Thanks

Yes cut away a third of the old wood as close to the ground as you can manage to create a nice open structure. If there is any new growth from the base also take out any "whimps" or where they are very crowded, you want roughly as many replacements as you have taken out assuming the bush is as big as you want it.

Next year's fruit grows on this year's stock so don't go mad, unless you want a year of very little followed by a year of plenty!

Thank you gentlemen.

Next question - do I prune redcurrants in the same way?

Redcurrants are unfortunately quite different. Slightly complicated to describe, much easier starting from young bushes rather than ones that have been neglected as I suspect yours are from your original post.

There is a bit of useful information here http://www.soft-fruit.co.uk/currants/re ... l-growing/ but the pruning is only partially correct. Following this will give you a basic bush to start from and make up for the neglect.

In other years follow what the RHS says. "Summer prune (mid-June/mid July*), shortening current season’s growth back to 5 leaves except those needed to extend or form branches. In winter spur prune the same shoots, reducing to one to three buds from the base, and shorten branch leaders by one quarter (to a suitably positioned bud, keeping the centre of the bush open)". * I don't know where you are but this sounds a bit early to me, do it after fruiting.

So you end up with slightly strange spiky bushes that develop sort of knobbles round these places where you have shortened back the spurs that produce the fruiting sprigs. Unless you are an addict one large redcurrant bush will probably give you as much fruit as you want.