1. Then train them in a fan shape against a wall, fence or free-standing trellis. As you're really getting into pruning you might find 'How to Prune by John Cushnie' helpful - it really is the best book on pruning that I'm aware of and is my bible. Aim to create a well-branched, upright bush with fruiting spurs along the main stems. *Valid on standard one-day tickets only, transaction fee applies. Aim to create a bowl shape, keeping the centre of the bushes open to allow light and sun etc. Water well during dry spells. Ideally, you should pick and eat the berries on the same day. Pruning is easy. Gooseberries are delicious cooked in pies or swirled into sweetened cream to make a gooseberry fool. Although usually grown as bushes, gooseberries can also be trained as single upright stems or ‘cordons’, as well as fans on walls or fences. Good management means keeping the centre open to air and sunlight, leaving a … Aim to produce a framework of well-spaced branches that carry fruiting spurs along their length. Water well during dry spells. Receive perfectly portioned snacks delivered straight to your door, Subscribe to BBC Gardeners' World Magazine and receive 12 issues for only £39.99 - saving 39%. in to encourage the fruit to ripen and to make picking less injurious to you. Full sun is best, especially for dessert types, but they’re very tolerant of shade. Trim the side shoot to 2 buds if you want larger berries. In midsummer, cut back all sideshoots to two or three leaves from the base. Find out why they do this and how to rectify the problem, in our Quick Tips video: Fancy growing gooseberries but don’t have much room? How to winter-prune gooseberries and redcurrants, How to grow redcurrants and whitecurrants, ‘Careless’ – large fruits that turn transparent when ripe, ‘Invicta’ – green cooker, big crops, mildew resistant, ‘Leveller’ – yellow dessert variety with delicious flavour, ‘Whitesmith’ – a dessert/cooker with white fruits. Gooseberries grow well in large containers of soil-based compost. Blackcurrants crop best on two-year-old stems, which should then be cut down to stimulate new stems at the base. Dig a generous hole, fork plenty of garden compost into the base, then stand the plant in the hole. Eat within a few days of picking or store them in the fridge for up to two weeks. Highly-scented, it was launched to a frenzy of interest at the Chelsea Flower Show 2005. Here’s our advice on pruning bush fruit to boost your harvests. Gooseberries do not need a lot of pruning. If you find pruning fruit bushes difficult you’re certainly not alone. They’re easy to grow, and just a single bush will reward you with masses of berries for up to 15 years. Training Gooseberry Bushes . Arm yourself with sharp bypass secateurs, and some sturdy gloves if you’re pruning gooseberries, to protect your hands from their spines. Gooseberries aren’t fussy when it comes to soil type, but they do prefer it to be well drained and contain plenty of well-rotted manure or garden compost. Prune out old stems at the base – these are thicker and darker in colour. Remove shoot tips and old, unproductive wood. Space them 1.5m apart with a gap of 1.5m between the rows. We explain how to do it. Continue to water regularly. and fruit the following year. All you need to know about growing delicious gooseberries, in our detailed Grow Guide. Rare and highly sought after, Hyacinth 'Midnight Mystic'® is the first and original black hyacinth. Bush fruit such as currants and gooseberries grow in a conventional, shrub-like fashion, with new shoots sprouting from their branches. In July or August, simply cut back this season’s soft growth to two or three leaves from the base. From the team at Gardeners' World Magazine. Be inspired by stunning show gardens, and the beautiful floral marquee, plus live talks and more. In midsummer, cut back all sideshoots to two or three leaves from the base. Back-fill around the rootball with soil, firm down, then water in well. Dessert varieties are delicious in fresh fruit salads. Be inspired by stunning show gardens, and the beautiful floral marquee, plus live talks and more. In winter, prune this year’s growth to four buds from the base after fruiting. Some of the branches go up then waft back down to the ground, some are even then buried in the soil. Remove any new growth that is crowding the centre of your bushes and cut back the new shoots you wish to … Gooseberries freeze well. Gooseberries sometimes lose their fruit. A gardener’s advice. Choose 5 of the strongest and thickest-looking stems coming off the main stem of the bush. Start pruning year-one gooseberry bushes in the early spring. Pruning is therefore essential for all bush fruit, especially where space is limited. It's available on Amazon, second hand copies go for very reasonable amounts. Unless pruned regularly, these can grow to more than 3m high, while the berries will be smaller and less easy to harvest, especially if the stems are thorny. Simply, top and tail them before cooking. Blueberries don’t need any pruning for the first two years. Save 30 per cent on Sunday tickets* for BBC Gardeners' World Live 2021. From the team at Gardeners' World Magazine, BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine – receive 12 issues for only £39.99. Mulch the surface to keep weeds at bay. Pick off and squish or use a biological control. Remove a quarter of this, cutting stems back to the base or to a young shoot further down the stem. In winter, when you should do the main prune, cut back branch leaders of established bushes by half their new growth. Rare and highly sought after, Hyacinth 'Midnight Mystic'® is the first and original black hyacinth. Choose resistant varieties and avoid planting in shallow, dry soil. This makes the fruit easier to pick from the thorny stems. These thinnings make wonderfully tart stewed fruit. The best fruit is produced on branches that are 2-3 years old, so the first step is always to take out any wood that’s older than this. Most gooseberries are ready to pick in July or August, but to ensure good-sized berries, thin out the bunches of fruit in June when the fruits are the size of a pea. Feed gooseberry bushes in early spring with sulphate of potash (follow packet instructions) and a generous mulch of well-rotted manure or compost. Arm yourself with sharp bypass secateurs, and some sturdy gloves if you’re pruning gooseberries, to protect your hands from their spines. In July or August, simply cut back this season’s soft growth to two or three leaves from the base. From mid-spring, look out for gooseberry sawfly larvae, which will quickly strip a bush. Many gardeners dread fruit pruning for fear it is complicated but there are a couple of simple rules that make things easier. After gooseberries, red and white currants have been harvested - which they all will by the end of July - it is a good idea to give them a summer prune. Prune back all but 5 branches during the first year. Gooseberries can be cooked in pies or stewed to make purées, jams and chutneys. They will usually have one-third old wood. SUMMER PRUNING CURRANTS. Gooseberries. The diagrams in books may look very straight-forward, but it’s a whole different story when faced with your own, undiagrammatical, pruning challenge. In winter, prune this year’s growth to four buds from the base after fruiting. Prune red- and whitecurrants as you would gooseberries, as they produce fruit on sideshoots made the previous year. Pruning is easy. Regular pruning of bush fruits like gooseberries and blackcurrants is essential to get the best harvests. Pruning Gooseberries. This encourages spurs to form that will carry fruit next year. Grow gooseberries in moist but well-drained, fertile soil, in full sun. Pruning gooseberries. Choose a sunny site, either on the veg plot, in a border or against a south- or west-facing wall. Feed gooseberry bushes in early spring with sulphate of potash (follow packet instructions) and a generous mulch of well-rotted manure or compost. With the arrival of the winter season many of us are spending more time indoors, so why not brighten up your home and purify the air with a range of wonderful and architecturally interesting indoor plants. In winter, shorten the sideshoots to one bud. Here, Monty Don explains how to prune redcurrants and gooseberries: Growing currants: problem solving Put netting over bushes to stop birds stripping all the fruit – make sure the net is pulled taut over a frame to prevent birds from becoming caught, but still check the net regularly.