Pruning Berry Bushes To Obtain Good Crops

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31094, 24 June 1966, Page 6

Pruning Berry Bushes To Obtain Good Crops

I Some berry fruits are to be ' found in most gardens and these, perhaps more than any | other fruiting subjects, rapidly decline both in vigour and I fruiting capabilities if not j pruned. A few hints on how | to maintain high-level annual production are given below. Berry fruits include both bush types such as black currants and gooseberries, and | vines, such as grapes and passion fruit. Certain principles

more or less apply to them all. One must first know the fruiting habits of the subject to be pruned and an appraisal of the plant is then necessary. Recognition of the different wood is essential. Then follows removal of dead, diseased, broken, spent, overcrowded, spindly or weak growth, to achieve the correct end result. In doing so, use sharp tools and don’t leave stubs.

Raspberries

Raspberries generally fruit on one-year-old wood (last, season’s growth) only, and there are some varieties, notably Marcy, Lloyd George and November Abundance, which produce a second crop in autumn on current season’s growth. In general, canes which have borne fruit should be cut out at ground level, while autumn-fruited growths should be shortened to the highest node below the lowest fruit truss. Remaining canes should be thinned to leave well-spaced vigorous ones only. Thinning is dependent on the amount of growth and the number of canes present. It is common practice to tip all canes at a uniform height as this is considered to result in a more even bud break in spring and can also remove any bud moth larvae present. (The caterpillar of the bud moth bores into the buds, usually near the tip, and eats out the kernel of the bud which results in blindness in the following season.) Excessive suckers should be constantly removed but if left till winter could be dug up and used to commence a new row. Young plants should be shortened to between 6in to 12in after planting out, and then cut right out once the new suckers have attained the same height. Black Currants Black currants are grown on the stool system, that is growth arises from ground level. They fruit on one-year-old wood only.' The aim in the pruning of these bushes Is to retain the maximum number pf long, strong, new shoots each year without overcrowding. Every endeavour should be made to encourage maximum length young growth by annually cutting back as hard as feasibly possible all spent wood. Red and White Currants Red and white currants differ in their fruiting habits from black currants in that crops are borne on two-year-old growth and spurs of even older wood, the heaviest yields usually being carried on two and three-year-old material. In consequence more care must be taken in the pruning procedure. The framework should be carried on a single stem about Sin high, a point to remember when shaping young bushes when some half dozen or so shoots should be formed over the first two years. Subsequently, on mature bushes all wood over three to four years old should be removed, provided sufficient replacements are available. All laterals should be spurred back in winter and leaders tipped. To encourage spurs, side shoots can be shortened in summer, after fruit has been picked, to five buds, and further shortened to two or three in winter.

Gooseberries

j The fruit of gooseberry [bushes is borne on previous season’s growth and older wood. Again it is advisable to form the bush on a single 1 stem, at least 12in high, this time primarily to facilitate ease of picking. Although fruit can be expected for many years from the same wood, one-year-old wood normally carries the best fruit and pruning should therefore be based on an ample renewal system. Systematic removal of central and older branches will help to keep the bush in accessible form and encourage young

growths. Pendulous varieties such as Levin early and London seedling require special attention, and need to be cut back to an upward pointing bud. Upright growers should be pruned to an outwardly placed bud. Weak growers should be pruned much harder than vigorous growers, which often respond to such treatment by growing into thickets. Generally, main branches should be kept well apart and vigorous fruit spurs can be maintained by annual extension and addition of young wood.

Loganberries and allied hybrid berries have a similar fruiting habit to raspberries, previous season’s canes bearing the crop. Spent wood should be cut off as close to ground level as possible, whilst eight to 10 of the most vigorous young canes only from each plant should be retained.

Chinese Gooseberries

Chinese Gooseberries fruit only from the first three to five buds on new shoots of the current season’s growth. The objective when pruning these vigorous vines is to keep them within bounds, but at the same time maintaining maximum productivity. The renewal system is the easiest to follow and consists of replacing as many of the old horizontally-trained canes which have just borne fruit with new canes. Old canes which cannot be replaced should be shortened back to new growths which are long enough to replace the portion removed.

This pruning is done during the winter but summer pruning may be necessary to remove unwanted canes and to shorten fruit-bearing shoots to avoid overcrowding. The renewal system just described is recommended where vines are growing on a wire fence. The spur system is "more suitable for those trained on pergolas. This is identical to the method adopted for the training of grape vines. Grapes

Grapes are borne on the current season’s growth of laterals developing from one year and older canes. Fruit is generally borne on the first 12in approximately of these laterals. Pruning therefore entails spurring back old fruited laterals to two-three basal buds from the rod, thus leaving only short spurs along its entirety. All other growths should be removed. This must be done annually. In addition summer pruning (in January) is mostly a worth-while procedure. This is done to restrict excessive growth and overcrowding which may Interfere with fruit development. The new vine should be pruned back to two buds on the strongest shoot and all other growths removed.

Passion Fruit

Passion fruit is yet another vine which carries its fruit on current season’s growth. If left unpruned it rapidly becames a tangled mass of vines which are not only unmanageable but also prone to disease. The general aim should be to keep the plant as uncongested as possible. The thinning, cutting out, or cutting back of lateral growth, especially that which has fruited, will go a long way towards ensuring this. Gradual replacement of leaders and shortening pf older ones which are too long is also advisable to maintain Vigour. Passion fruit is prone to die back so that when leaders require shortening they should be cut back to a lateral rather than a dormant bud. Do not prune until the danger of spring frosts is over, but remember that late pruning induces a late crop.