Pruning gooseberries in spring: timing, rules and schemes for beginners

If you do not carry out regular pruning, then over time, the gooseberry will grow so much that it will begin to shade itself, hurt more often, and its fruiting will noticeably deteriorate. Most likely, it happened with your thorny berry bush. It doesn't matter, this is fixable.

After reading this article, you will learn when and how to prune gooseberries in the spring, which branches should be removed completely, which should be shortened, and which should be left as replacement shoots so that you always have a good harvest!

Why cut gooseberries

Obviously, almost any garden manipulation is aimed at improving the health and yield of the crop. Gooseberries are no exception.

Thus, pruning gooseberries is necessary in order to:

• improve the illumination and ventilation of the bush;

The more sunlight reaches the branches, the higher the yield and sweetness of the berries will be.

• reduce the risk of infection by fungal diseases and pests (the same powdery mildew);
• give the shrub the correct shape.

Of course, it is much easier to care for and harvest from a compact and well-groomed bush than to climb in thorny thickets.

As a result, a properly cut gooseberry will yield a more abundant and larger crop of delicious berries.

Video: why, when and how to properly trim gooseberries in spring

When to prune gooseberries in spring: optimal timing

It is necessary to start the spring pruning of gooseberries immediately after the snow melts, and it is desirable to have time before the start of active sap flow into the shoots, in other words, before the buds bloom (while they have not yet started to grow).

The fact is that you can simply break off the protruding kidneys. Therefore, it is better to prune when the bush is still sleeping.

Although, if everything is done carefully, then the procedure can be carried out even after bud break.

Thus, depending on the climate of the region, the approximate timing of spring currant pruning is March-April (early May).

• In the southern regions - in late March and early April.
• In the Middle zone (Moscow region) - in the second half of April.
• In the Urals and Siberia - in early May. Around the same time, you can start pruning in the North-West (in the Leningrad region).

Important! And yet, if the buds have already blossomed, then it is better to postpone pruning for autumn.

When is the best time to prune - in spring or autumn

In general, you can cut gooseberries in early spring and late autumn. As a rule, most gardeners cut exactly in the fallsince in the spring, there are enough other worries, especially since the gooseberry wakes up early enough and you can simply not be in time.

Advice! When it is convenient for you, then cut it! The main thing is to do it in a timely manner and correctly!

In this case, gooseberry pruning in autumn is divided into 2 stages:

• The first part is carried out after harvesting (i.e. in the summer) - cut sdried and diseased branches (sanitary pruning) 
• A rejuvenating and shaping gooseberry pruning is already in progress in the fall, and preferably after the leaves fall, but before the onset of frost.

By the way! The site already has a detailed article about when and how to prune gooseberries in autumn.

How to prune gooseberries in spring

Preparing for pruning: tools

As you know, gooseberries are very barbed shrub, which means that if you do not want to prick your hands during pruning, you need to wear sufficiently thick gloves (optimally - welder).

And of course you will need well sharpened secateurs (the most common).

By the way! It is very convenient to prune gooseberries long-handled pruning shears (lopper): it makes it much easier to get into the center of the bush. In addition, protective gloves can be dispensed with in this case.

However, pruning young branches is not very convenient for them ...

What and how to cut correctly (which branches and shoots)

What branches and shoots gooseberry need to cut:

• First carried out sanitary pruning - you need to remove or cut to healthy wood all sick (for example, amazed powdery mildew), covered with moss and lichen, dry and damaged branches.
• Next, you need to spend anti-aging pruning - completely remove (by cutting to the base, without leaving any hemp or "hedgehogs") all old brancheswho more than 5 years (some even recommend getting rid of 3-4 year old shoots).

How to distinguish between old branches that need to be deleted:

• the bark is thicker and coarser;
• dark brown (almost black);
• there are many side shoots on the branches.

Thus, the older the branch, the thicker, darker and more branched it is.

Now you can start to thinning pruning - removal extra shoots that thicken the bush (do not allow him to properly ventilate, shade each other and provoke illness). Namely, you need to trim:

• superfluous and weakest (thin) zero (young) shoots... At the same time, 2-3 well-developed young branches, which are most successfully located in the bush, should be left to replace the old ones (which will be removed next year);

Zero (young) shoots are left only if replacement of old shoots is required. If you do not need it, then you can not leave it.

However! As a rule, 2-4 such strong new shoots (from 0.5 cm thick) are still left for replacement.

• lower brancheswho practically lie on the ground (including those that will necessarily "fall" under the weight of the harvest when they begin to bear fruit);

Such branches will be in the shade of other shoots, which means that they will not have enough food (sunlight), as a result, they will not be able to bear fruit normally. In addition, if the berries lie on the ground, they will surely be covered with various fungal diseases.

Advice! Although, as an option, under the lower fruiting branches you can put supports (make stops).

• side branches that are poorly located in the bush, for example, which grow in the center (inward) of the bush, entangle or intertwine (compete) with others.

Important! If there are branches bent downward or horizontally, then they must be shortened so that the outer buds (or side shoots) are directed vertically or at a good angle upward.

At all it is not necessary to cut the branches completely, they can be shortened - to conduct shortening pruning (including for better branching). For example:

• You can slightly shorten (3-5 cm) all young shoots over the kidneys, that they branched better... This applies to both lateral branches (growths) and new (zero) young shoots.

Advice! Before trimming them, on the outside of the branch Need to find strong kidney and only then cut the branch above this bud, departing from it by 0.5-1 cm.

• Wherein all excess sprouts and competing branches should be cut closer to the fork (that is, you prune the old branch to the point where the young growth branches and grows).

An example of a gooseberry pruning scheme (A - before pruning, B - after)

As a result, the average bush should have 2-3 branches each year (from 1 to 5 + zero young shoots of replacement), i.e. in total - a maximum of 12-16 shoots.

Video: properly pruning gooseberry bushes and other spring activities

How to prune an old and neglected bush: the nuances of anti-aging pruning

Let's say that you inherited or you bought an old plot from the previous owner, where you found overgrown gooseberry bushes, giving a scanty harvest.

What to do, how to restore the fruiting of gooseberries?

That's right, to carry out anti-aging pruning of the bush (including thinning).

However! If the bush is very old (over 15-20 years old), then it is better to dig it up and plant a new seedling.

What do you need to do?

Clear bushes from old and unnecessary shoots to create conditions for active growth of new young shoots.

Important! Prune old branches without fanaticism. Gooseberry bears fruit on a young growth, which is formed on old branches (the most fertile 3-5 years old), and this is its difference from currants.

How to do it?

For example, prune an old gooseberry bush as follows (and also use the pruning tips from the previous paragraph):

Interesting! There is quite radical method of rejuvenation old gooseberry - cut it to zero.

So what needs to be done:

• In order to rejuvenate the gooseberry, you cut off almost the entire bush at soil level. Although it is still better to leave 3-4 of the youngest and strongest branches (with light bark), of course, if you find them at all.
• In the first year, after strong pruning, a lot of shoots will grow. The part will need to be removed, leaving only 4-5 of the strongest and most well-located ones.
• Next, you will need to start actively fertilizing the growing bushes (for example, you can mulch with humus or compost, or scatter minerals over the surface / apply them in liquid form).

By the way! Gooseberries will begin to bear fruit already in the third year after such a total pruning. And with good care (feeding) - even for the second.

How to form gooseberries: pruning scheme by year

If you just planted a seedling (in the spring or in the fall) and want to correctly form a compact and abundantly fruiting berry bush, then you should adhere to a certain pattern of gooseberry formation, taking into account its age:

• After planting a seedling - all shoots (if it is not the only one) are shortened, while 3-4 buds must be left above the soil surface.
• after 1 year - all young shoots are cut into 4-5 buds and 2-3 zero shoots are left. In this case, it is worth starting to carry out sanitary pruning - to remove diseased branches and those branches that do not grow vertically, but are directed to the center of the bush.
• after 2 years (3-year-old seedling) - pruning (pinching) of all zero shoots by 1/4 is carried out, as well as shortening by 1/4 of the growth growing on skeletal branches. This will provoke the growth of a young shrub in width, and not upward. Don't forget about sanitary pruning.
• in 3-4 years - fully corresponds to pruning on a 3-year-old seedling. Sanitary pruning.
• for 5 years and beyond - the rejuvenating pruning of the bush begins. First, sanitary pruning is carried out, then all old shoots are cut out (rejuvenating pruning) and shaping is completed - everything is like 2 years old (3-year-old seedling).
• And don't forget leave 2-3 new zero replacement shoots every year.

There is also standard method of forming a gooseberry bush.

The formation of gooseberries on a stem can be carried out, guided by the following pruning scheme (by year), presented in the picture below:

What else is included in the spring gooseberry care activities

Proper care of gooseberries in spring includes the following basic activities:

By the way! All recommendations and advice for spring care for gooseberries after winter you'll findhere.

• direct spring pruning;
• spraying against diseases and pests

Advice! The site already has an articleabout what and how to treat gooseberries in the spring from pests and diseases.

• and top dressing.

Important! There is also detailed material on when and how to fertilize to feed currants in spring (for gooseberries everything is the same).

And in spring you can transplant a shrub to a new location or propagate in one of several ways.

Video: what to do with gooseberries in spring to get a good harvest

Well, now you know how important it is to regularly prune gooseberries in the spring (or in the fall), because the future harvest directly depends on its correct implementation. In fact, pruning a shrub is not that difficult (slightly more difficult than raspberries or blackberry), especially when compared to fruit trees. You just need to carefully consider your bush (study its structure), identify old and unnecessary (thickening) branches, and then cut them out completely or shorten them.

Video: pruning gooseberries in spring