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If there is a garden or vegetable garden on the site, currants will definitely grow there. Black, red, white, and recently even pink berries can be eaten straight from the bush and frozen. And how many preserves, jams, compotes with currants does the average person eat in his life! And it’s very good that the berry is not only tasty, but also healthy. In order to list all the vitamins, microelements, pectins and other beneficial substances contained in currants, or the diseases that they can alleviate, a separate article will be needed.
Did you know that this berry has been growing wild near us since ancient times, but no one paid attention to it because of its sour taste and small berries? For the first time, currants were talked about as a medicinal plant. When they learned that its berries were suitable for making wine, the selection of large-fruited varieties with improved taste and large fruits began. Today, one of our favorite berries is currants.Pruning in the fall, rejuvenation of an old bush, the scheme of which will be discussed in detail, will be the topic of our article.
Why prune currants?
In order to get a good harvest, any plant needs to be properly cared for. For both black and black currants red, annual pruning is part of a set of measures that ensure its health, abundant fruiting and long life.
Carefully cared for bushes grow and bear fruit in one place for up to 30 years, but if their development is left to chance, their lifespan will be reduced to 15, the harvest will be meager, the berries will be small. In addition, even what grows on old, untrimmed currants will be difficult to collect due to tangled branches. A thickened berry garden is a breeding ground for diseases and makes it difficult to control pests. And it’s unpleasant to look at unkempt bushes.
When is the best time to prune currants?
Currant bushes can be pruned in both autumn and early spring. It’s just that gardeners have more time before the onset of frost. Autumn thinning of bushes begins when the temperature has dropped, growth processes have slowed down, and the leaves, if they have not fallen, have already turned yellow.
In the spring, you need to have time to prune the currants before the sap begins to flow, and they wake up early, often when the snow has not yet melted. If you don’t have time, the branches will “cry”, not as much as grapes, but this will not lead to an increase in yield, and it will not add health to the plant. Besides, in the spring there is a lot of other work to do, and pruning, which could have been successfully completed in the fall, is a waste of time and effort.
Types of currant pruning
Strictly speaking, all types of pruning are included in the comprehensive care of berry bushes.You cannot say: “Today I carry out sanitary measures, and tomorrow I carry out formative measures.” Red and black currants are most often simultaneously rejuvenated, saved from diseases, and given the crown the desired shape. It would just be good to know for what purpose you are cutting this or that branch. In addition, during the growing season there is often a need to interfere with the natural development of currant bushes.
Sanitary pruning
Blackcurrant usually produces a lot of shoots, forms a straggly, highly branched bush, and also often gets sick. If you do not remove weak, broken, criss-crossing branches affected by fungi or pests, then soon we will see an untidy plant with tangled shoots and a meager harvest of sour small berries.
Red currants do not branch as much and produce less zero-order growth, but they also need sanitary pruning. Removing diseased branches in time prevents lichens and fungi from infecting the entire plant. Thickened branches are easily affected by pests.
Formation of bushes
In order to get a good harvest, the bushes should not grow as they should. It is necessary to form them so that the berries are well lit and ventilated - their taste and size directly depend on this. Choose a specific shape, then trim the currants accordingly.
It is often advised to give the bush the shape of an open bowl. This way it will not only be well lit, but harvesting will also be simplified. Usually, the natural spreading shape of the blackcurrant bush makes it easy to give it exactly the shape of a bowl. The situation is somewhat different with white, pink or red varieties. Not always, but very often their crown has a compact shape, so cutting it into a bowl will require a lot of work.Is it worth it? Follow nature, shape the bush into a cone.
The desired shape of black or red currants is achieved by pruning. You can even form it on a trellis, but this requires a certain skill.
Spring pruning
In the spring, you may need to pick up a pruner even if you pruned the currants in the fall. Repeated sanitary measures are carried out: all branches broken by bad weather and frozen are removed.
Summer pinching
Sometimes, for one reason or another, currants produce a large amount of young shoots on old branches. Most often this happens if you overdid it with fertilizers in the previous year. In order to provide access to air and light to the berries, and also to prevent the development of diseases, you have to carefully pluck the green branches that thicken the bush, without waiting for autumn pruning.
During the growing season, you will have to regularly remove broken or diseased shoots.
Anti-aging pruning
In fact, any pruning rejuvenates currants, as it stimulates the formation and development of young shoots both at the base of the bush and on old branches. Here we are talking about the formation of a plant that bears fruit abundantly and on all shoots. Bushes older than five years must be rejuvenated annually by removing all fruit-bearing branches. They only pull nutrients from the plant, thicken it, and are a breeding ground for diseases and a haven for pests.
If you have properly cared for the currants from the moment of planting, then anti-aging pruning will be easy to do.But if the bushes grew on their own or you purchased a plot with a neglected berry garden, you will have to work hard.
Do I need to pinch or shorten the tops?
This burning question interests both beginners and experienced gardeners. Let's look at it separately for black and red currants. Here you need to know the features of each.
Blackcurrant produces berries mainly on the upper part of the bush. Its fruits live for 2-3 years, then die off, therefore, either young branches or one- to two-year growth of old ones bear fruit. It is located not inside the bush, but on its periphery. In addition, black currant branches well. By pinching or cutting off the ends of young branches, we, firstly, lose part of the harvest, and secondly, we strengthen the already excellent branching of the bush. And then we heroically remove the excess growth during sanitary or formative pruning.
Red currants branch less, have few shoots, and the harvest is evenly distributed throughout the bush. But is it worth stimulating the formation of new shoots from scratch if there are already enough old ones? This is only appropriate if the branches do not produce lateral growth, which is why the harvest suffers, or the bush has grown to such a height that it makes picking berries difficult.
Naturally, all the tops affected by pests are removed. They are especially often deformed by aphids, which lay eggs in young growth.
Anti-aging pruning technique
All currant bushes need rejuvenation, black - from the fifth year of life, red and white - from the sixth to eighth. It consists of removing old skeletal branches. It is at this age that the shoots lose productivity and significantly reduce the yield or, in general, stop bearing fruit.
The best time for anti-aging pruning is a fine autumn day, when the currant leaves have already fallen off. It needs to be completed before frost sets in.
Prepare garden pitch and clean, sharpened tools for pruning currants:
- pruners - regular and with a ratcheting mechanism;
- lopper;
- hacksaw
The further course of action will depend on how the bushes were cared for in previous years.
Rejuvenation of well-groomed bushes
If you carried out sanitary pruning on time, annually left only 4-5 of the strongest zero shoots, and correctly formed the bush, then rejuvenating the currant will not present any difficulties. Even an inexperienced gardener can easily do it.
The photo clearly shows the difference between red currant branches of different ages.
You just need to use pruning shears or a hacksaw to trim the old branches (five years old for black currants and six to eight years old for red currants) right at the surface of the soil, trying not to leave stumps. The main thing, do not forget, when rejuvenating currant bushes, handle the wound surface of the shoots with garden varnish.
Rejuvenation of neglected bushes
Unfortunately, everything is not always as simple as described in the previous paragraph. Very often we neglect sanitary measures and only come to our senses when currant rejuvenation becomes not a planned event, but a forced measure. It simply stops bearing fruit or produces a meager harvest of small berries.
Currant bush before and after pruning
Sometimes we bring currants to such a state that it is simply impossible to bring them back to normal in one year.The consolation is that, having once encountered the problem of rejuvenating pruning of a neglected bush, gardeners try to avoid such a situation in the future.
But whatever the reason for the deplorable state of currants, the situation needs to be corrected. The algorithm for rejuvenating neglected bushes has been worked out for decades. Below we provide a diagram of actions.
- Assess the general condition of the currants. If, despite the poor harvest, the bush is strong, healthy, and the shoots are powerful, then rejuvenating pruning can be done at one time. With general depression of the plant, weak shoots or its complete absence, it may take several years to restore the currant. Only bushes of reproductive age are rejuvenated. Currants can live up to 30 years only with good care. Negligent attitude reduces this period by half. You know the age of your plants better and can independently determine whether it is worth saving the bush or planting new currants in the fall.
- Evaluate the quality and quantity of zero order shoots.
- Mark 2-3 well-developed, well-placed old branches that you want to keep. Start removing the rest, starting with those that are easier to reach. This is where a lopper with long handles and a powerful blade would be especially appropriate. When a neglected currant bush is rejuvenated, they don’t think about the height of the stump. You can trim it to the desired level later. Don’t forget about stumps, because if their height is more than 3 cm, tops may form - unproductive fast-growing shoots that deplete the already weakened currant bush.
- If you have identified at least a few strong branches of zero order, you can cut off all the skeletal ones, except for the intended ones.If there are no well-developed shoots, leave another 2-3 old shoots, cutting them to a strong side branch located in the lower part of the currant bush. If affected by glassworm, make a lower cut, or select another branch.
- Remove all diseased, broken, growing inward or lying on the ground shoots from the currant bush. Essentially, you need sanitary pruning on a global scale. Just remove no more than a third of the bush, since it may not be possible to rejuvenate it in one year. Continue next fall, but you will see the first positive results in the spring.
Watch a video that clearly demonstrates a simple trimming method:
Conclusion
There is nothing difficult in rejuvenating currants, especially if they were cared for systematically. Good luck to you and have a good harvest.
