- Soft fruit that does not need to be cut or only slightly
- You have to cut these varieties
- Cut red and white currants
- Cut gooseberries
- Care cuts for all berry fruit bushes
- tips and tricks
Not all soft fruit varieties need pruning. Elderberries and sea buckthorn do not need to be cut back. The situation is different with gooseberries and currants. If old shoots are not removed here, the bushes will hardly bear any berries.
Soft fruit that does not need to be cut or only slightly
Berry varieties that you can easily grow include:
- elderberries
- sea buckthorn
- blueberries
- cranberries
Blueberries and cranberries sprout almost completely every year, so that the plants rejuvenate themselves. Here it is only advisable to thin out the bushes occasionally. Then the berries get more light and thus become larger and more aromatic.
Elderberries and sea buckthorn grow on large shrubs that reach tree size. A pruning is superfluous as the crowns do not become very dense. These berries will grow anyway, even if they get little light.
You have to cut these varieties
- Red and white currants
- Black Currants
- gooseberries
Cut red and white currants
With currants, pruning depends on the variety. Red and white shrubs bear most fruit on the two- and three-year-old shoots.
All shoots that have been harvested are cut off just above the ground after harvest. New shoots must remain on the bush.
With blackcurrants, the berries already grow on the one-year-old wood. Therefore, cut off all shoots immediately after harvesting.
Cut gooseberries
Here, too, the pruning takes place after the harvest or at the latest before the onset of frost.
Gooseberries bear on the one to three year old shoots. So only the shoots that are three years old are pruned, because they would only produce a few berries the next year.
Care cuts for all berry fruit bushes
For all soft fruit varieties, dead, dried branches are cut out. This also applies to diseased branches.
Shoots that are too close together or branches that grow across the shrub should also be pruned.
tips and tricks
Experienced gardeners only cut their berry bushes in the spring, since then there will be no more leaves on the bushes. However, this requires a trained eye that recognizes the age of the shoots. Beginners should better grab the scissors immediately after harvesting to avoid cutting errors.
ce