PRUNING BUSH PLANTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 136, 10 June 1937, Page 26

PRUNING BUSH PLANTS

Fruit-tree pruning commences this month and the first to be treated are the bush fruits—gooseberries, currants, raspberries, etc. To prune intelligently it is necessary to have, some knowledge as to how the various bushes bear. For instance, red arid white currants and gooseberries bear chiefly on spurs, while black currants and raspberries have nearly all their fruit on growths made the previous season. The first point in pruning, whatever the bush, is to remove ail dead twigs and branches. RED AND WHITE CURRANTS. Gooseberries should always be grown on a single-stemmed bush with evenlyspaced branches springing from the stem eight inches to a- foot from the ground. All young growths should be pruned back to a spur from threequarters to one inch long upon which the fruit will be borne. . ' : The centres of the bushes should be kept open by removing any branches which are crowding the centres or overlapping others, it is necessary for the sun to get to all parts so.'that the wood may be ripened. With gooseberries it is especially necessary to haye the branches well spaced, otherwise picking is very difficult. GOOSEBERRIES. , Gooseberries often send up suckers from the base. If these are allowed to develop the pushes become a tangled mass impossible to attend to properly and the fruit deteriorates. Merely cutting these suckers ; off. at ground level is worse than useless, as for each one' so cut half a dozen or more will appear. The only way to .treat them satisfactorily is to clear away the.soil till you see where they emerge from the main stem and then to pull them right away. Needless to say, a good pair of leather gloves is necessary ( for this operation. BLACK CURRANTS. These are best grown on the .stool system;,that ; is, the plants are encour-

aged to send up as much sucker growth as they will and all old, worn-out branches are cut right down to the ground. The young growths, require no pruning beyond shortening any which are immature. RASPBERRIES. Raspberries are'also grown in stools and all the canes which have borne should be cut down to ground level. This is best done as soon as they cease bearing so that all the energy of the plant may go to build up strong young canes. Of the new canes, choose five or six of the strongest and best placed, cutting away all the others.' The young canes which are retained do not require any cutting. . LOGANBERRIES. Loganberrie/make long wands from twelve to eighteen feet and these young wands, as in the case of raspberries, bear next year's fruit. Loganberries should always be cut back to ground level as soon as fruiting is over, as if : the old growths are allowed to remain the young canes grow through them and are very liable to damage when the old ones are removed. Tie in the young wands to their supports so that they do not get damaged by winds and . incidentally so that they may not do harm to plants growing within reach. • Raspberries and black currants prefer a., rather moist position with a cool root-run. . ■•;;'-. .-.'■„■■. Gooseberries and red or white currants'. requlre;.well drained soil and a rtiofe open situation. .: 'Loganberries may be increased quite readily by merely pegging down the tips of the young wands. These root freely, and may then ,be severed and planted where desired. As soon as pruning is over gather up allL: the prunings and burn them. The ground, round the bushes should be thoroughly weeded and forked over lightly and some manure should be sprinkled over it.