Proper pruning of red and black currants in the fall for beginners. Pruning currants in autumn and spring: diagram and detailed description

Nowadays, in addition to local varieties, stores also sell exotic berries and fruits of amazing shape and taste. But it's fun. Summer residents know that the results of their own labor are preferable in terms of taste, benefits and beauty. The most common and rewarding crop in the area is currants. That's why gardeners are looking for new varieties, planting bushes, pruning shoots, forming the crown so that it is pleasant to look at and convenient to pick berries. After all, the process of caring for and monitoring the development of plants is no less important and interesting than harvesting fruits.

Do I need to prune red currants?

Overgrown currant bushes can be found in abandoned areas. And if in early spring they delight with clusters of elegant flowers, in summer there are only rare small berries on the branches, and the bushes themselves most often look sick and pitiful. Currant plantings need care, as they love lighting and fertilizing, as well as access to air, so that pests and diseases do not develop in shaded and dense thickets. Pruning regulates growth and shapes the crown, and also heals and rejuvenates the bushes. Indeed, with a decrease in the total number of shoots, the plant gives off strength specifically, while the brush develops into favorable conditions, and the berries are formed exceptional in taste and size.

Well-groomed red currant bushes produce an excellent harvest

Which red currant branches need to be pruned?

Before we start pruning, let's figure out which branches the bush needs and which ones interfere with growth and fruiting. The lightest shoots extending from the roots are zero, otherwise they are called renewal shoots or first-order shoots. In the first year they are straight and do not branch. By the second year of life, lateral branches appear on them - shoots of the second year, etc. The shoots grow especially rapidly in the first three years, then their growth slows down and fruiting decreases. To constantly stimulate the growth of new shoots, shoots of the second and subsequent orders are pruned.

Before you start pruning the red currant bush, determine which shoots need to be removed

However, you should not get too carried away with pruning, otherwise top shoots may form - vertically located branches that appear on the perennial wood of old skeletal branches. They are characterized intensive growth and weak branching. If there are not enough zero shoots to rejuvenate the bush, you can cut off the old branches not completely, but only to the top shoot, which is then shortened to a suitable outer bud to stimulate branching.

Berries do not grow on top shoots, and the bush takes a lot of effort to develop them

Fruit buds on red currants are formed mainly at the tip of the shoots. Therefore, when pruning, there is no need to shorten all branches: fewer fruit buds are formed on older branches, so shoots older than 4–5 years are cut out.

When pruning red currants, remove the upper parts of the shoots to preserve the fruit buds

Pruning red currants in autumn

The best time for pruning is autumn, when the harvest is harvested, sap flow in the plants is slow, but frost has not yet struck. Sometimes pruning of old branches is carried out during harvesting, cutting off four- and five-year-old shoots along with tassels into rings (thickening at the base of the branch), and cutting should be done as close to the base of the shoot as possible. Then they calmly pick the berries.

Video: autumn pruning of red currants

Pruning red currants in spring

If for some reason it was not possible to prune in the fall, you can do it in the spring before the sap begins to flow. The period of possible spring pruning is very short: from the end of frost until the leaves bloom.

Video: spring processing and pruning of red currant bushes

Types of pruning red currants

Before pruning begins, you need to decide why it is being done. There are anti-aging, shaping and sanitary pruning.

Anti-aging pruning

During rejuvenation, the most callous and unproductive branches are removed. The shoots are cut into rings; it is advisable to hold the pruning shears perpendicular to the shoot, and make the cut at soil level.

When performing anti-aging pruning, the procedure is as follows:

Video: anti-aging pruning of red currants

Formative pruning

When formative pruning, they try to give the currant bush a certain shape and then maintain it. Depending on how often the plants are planted, more or fewer shoots are left on each bush. With more frequent planting, the bushes are pruned more intensively, keeping fewer branches. The main thing is that the bush consists of shoots of different ages. This will ensure constant fruiting and further recovery for the currants.

Formative pruning of red currants not only allows you to give the bush the desired shape, but also improves fruiting

In our gardens, the most common form of growing red currants is bush. The standard form of currants (the standard is part of the shoot from the surface of the soil to the level of the branches) is more common in European gardens, but we are also making attempts to grow currants this way. The bushes look elegant during flowering and are very attractive when hung with ripe scarlet tassels.

With the standard form of pruning red currants, due to the high arrangement of the branches, the berries do not get dirty with soil

Stages of standard pruning of red currants:

After planting, only the central shoot is left, shortening it by half to the outer bud (located with outside branches).
A year later or in the fall, when planting, if two-year-old seedlings were taken, the buds are removed along the entire height of the trunk, leaving only four multidirectional shoots to indicate the future skeleton of the bush. They are cut by 50% of the length to the outer bud to improve branching.
In the third year, all root shoots, that is, zero shoots, and growths on the trunk are cut out. Choose strong shoots of the second order, shorten them by half to the outer bud. The length of the conductors is maintained.
Subsequently, weak and broken branches are removed in early spring. In the summer, when the berries begin to set, unproductive side branches are shortened by 10 cm, improving the nutrition of the remaining shoots and making harvesting easier.

To grow red currants on a trunk you will need at least three years

Formation like a cordon and on a high trellis is also used. Cordon-type formation is used to increase productivity, since the bush does not have to spend a lot of effort on extra branches and leaves, and to save space in the garden.

When forming a cordon of currants, proceed as follows:

Immediately after planting, the central conductor is shortened by 50% of the length and tied to a support.
The side branches are removed, leaving only 2–3 cm.
Every year after this in the spring, the main conductor is cut to a bud opposite to last year's pruning, leaving 15 cm of growth. The following year, the procedure is repeated, with the cut facing the other side. This ensures a relatively straight, albeit zigzag, shape of the bush.
Side branches are cut to 2–3 cm every spring, stimulating branching.
In the final version, the height of the cordon reaches one and a half meters or higher.

When forming red currants like a cordon from a bush that occupies a smaller area, you can collect more berries

The formation of a bush on a trellis resembles a cordon with outgoing horizontal shoots. With this method, plants are better pollinated, it is convenient to apply fertilizers, and pick berries. Currants are grown on a trellis like this:

Select an annual seedling with three distinct shoots.
A central conductor is formed from one shoot.
The two remaining shoots are placed opposite, forming the first tier approximately at a height of 30 cm from the surface of the earth.
As the bush grows, the tiers are built up, placing them horizontally in the same way as the bottom one.

Such bushes grow up to one and a half meters in height with side branches up to 90–100 cm long. Usually, currants have four tiers on a trellis. After the final formation of all tiers, the central conductor is annually cut to the lower bud, while the side branches are shortened to 2–3 cm. In July, the main shoot and side branches are pruned again by 10 cm.

The formation of red currants on a trellis improves pollination of the bush

Sanitary pruning

Sanitary pruning begins in the spring, when frost-damaged, broken, thickening crowns and shoots growing inward are removed, and does not stop throughout the summer. If buds or shoots affected by pests are found, they are immediately removed and destroyed.

When sanitary pruning, thickening shoots are removed

When pruning currants, several conditions are observed:

they try to clear the middle of the bush so that all branches are evenly illuminated;
every autumn, cut the side shoots halfway to the outer bud, stimulating branching;
Cutting red currant shoots halfway to the outer bud stimulates the formation of new branches.
after pruning, four shoots of all ages are retained so that the bush bears fruit and can fully grow and branch;
when shortening shoots, the cut is made at a distance from the bud no more than 5 mm, so as not to damage it. The pruning shears are held at an angle of 45° to the branch;
Positioning the pruning shears at a 45 degree angle allows you to remove thicker branches
do not touch the tops of shoots of two or three years, since it is on them that the main fruiting of red currants is ensured;
if the shoot branches and one of the branches grows downward or horizontally, it is removed from the branching site;
Shoots growing horizontally are removed so that more berries are on the upper branches of the red currant - they are better illuminated by the sun and ripen faster
prevent plant thickening. One or two strong zero shoots are left every year, the rest are removed;
starting from the fourth year, old fruit-bearing branches are pruned at the root or to a strong top shoot;
in the spring, weak, top and basal shoots (located at the soil surface in the root collar area) are cut into rings; in the fall, second-order shoots are shortened by 10 cm to a bud growing outward;
unproductive old branches are cut off at the root into a ring, leaving no stumps.

When removing thickening shoots, no stumps are left; cuts are made at soil level

In addition to proper pruning, currant bushes are provided with care, including regular watering and fertilizing, mulching trunk circle, disease prevention and pest detection.

Video: mulching red currants in autumn

All this is done in order to enjoy their own berries at the end of the season. Although the season ends not with harvesting, but with preparing the site for winter. And there is spring and new troubles.

For the pleasure of eating delicious jelly or fresh juicy red currant berries, you have to plant bushes, water them, care for them, and prune them. But this work brings joy to gardeners and brings fruit.

Pruning red currants is an annual simple event that allows the bush to renew itself and bear fruit well. But what is the secret of pruning? How and when to carry it out? Let's look into everything in more detail.

Why do you need to prune red currants?

It would seem that the bush is growing and producing good fruits, so why bother it? But this opinion is deceptive. Every novice gardener should know the basic purposes of pruning currants. And this:

Provide the plant with all the conditions for normal growth and fruiting.
Update the bush. This must be done because red currants will bear fruit only on branches of a certain age, and on old and diseased branches the harvest is pitiful and meager.
Conduct sanitization. It is necessary to remove all weakened and unhealthy shoots on which infection can multiply or where pests are already present.
Provide the bush with normal sunlight. Too dense bushes do not allow the sun to reach the base, which can lead to poor fruiting of the heat-loving plant.
Renew fruiting shoots. After all, by cutting off those that do not bear fruit, you open the opportunity for new branches to grow and bear fruit.
Form correct form bush.

Thus, by annually renewing the branches, you get a healthy bush that will bear fruit well.+

Pruning red currants

Under no circumstances should you prune red and black currants under the same system. The fact is that black currants bear fruit on 3-4 year old branches on the side parts. They are shortened for a better harvest.

Things are completely different with red currants. Let's talk about the basic rules for pruning red currants.

Currants need to be trimmed before planting. This is done in order to better form root system and the bush took root. Usually 2-3 buds are left on the shoots.
An already planted bush is worth inspecting. If the shoots are large and long, they should be shortened to 20 cm and pay attention to their condition: the weaker the branch, the shorter it needs to be cut.
The first pruning is best done in early spring, before sap flow, when the air temperature is not lower than 5 degrees;
After the first planting pruning, some do not touch 2-3 year old shoots and do not prune last year’s growth. This is necessary for the bush to form and begin to bear fruit.
An important nuance is determining the placement of the cut. You cannot cut a branch at the bud. You need to retreat 5 mm. The cutting angle should be 45 degrees.
Cut off those branches that prevent you from forming the correct shape and grow inward. The branches should be positioned outward to better allow light to reach the bush.

The main task of the gardener is to trim old branches that are more than 5-6 years old. They already bear fruit poorly and do not allow the bush to renew itself. One-year growths should be left without pruning; this should be done only for the next year. You can leave old branches, provided that they bear fruit well. To do this, it is worth cutting old branch to the nearest fork. This activates the growth of lateral growth.

If you understood everything correctly, you should have 15-20 branches in a healthy bush from one to 7 years old.

Spring pruning

Why prune red currants better in spring than in the fall? This is because you can already see exactly which shoots died over the winter and which are green. In addition, this will renew the bush before spring growth.

Here step-by-step instruction to trimming:

First you need to remove all broken, very old and diseased branches from the bush;
If some of the young shoots do not bear fruit, you can also say goodbye to them. Don’t be afraid to cut branches; three good shoots are enough for normal fruiting;
If you see that the growth is not growing well, you need to cut off some old branches for better growth;
Remove young pagons and weak growths to the base;
If the tops have dried out a little, they should also be trimmed.

This way, every year you should only have healthy pagons that will grow to the sides.

Care after pruning

After you have produced spring pruning All bushes must be thoroughly fed with urea, the tree trunks loosened, and mulched with compost or peat. In addition, the bush can be fertilized organic fertilizers under a bush In summer, do not forget to water the bush.

Rejuvenation

Another method of pruning is rejuvenation; it applies only to old shrubs that are more than 15 years old. You need to do the following:

Cut the third part of the bush to the base;
From the shoots that appear, select the strongest ones, remove the rest;
Next year, cut out another third of the old shoots, leave the rest of the strong ones;
After another year, remove all old branches, young growth and weak shoots.

Pruning currants in autumn is one of the most important stages in bush care. Next year's yield depends on the quality and correctness of the procedure. But, if you do not know the technology and timing of pruning, you can, on the contrary, reduce the fruiting of the bush.

The need for pruning currant bushes

Pruning is intended not only to form a beautiful and compact bush, but also to increase yield. Young currants are an unpretentious crop; they give good growth and yield. But, 3-4 years after planting, you can notice a decrease in fruiting.

The bush grows and becomes voluminous, but the volume harvested decreases significantly. This is due to the fact that fruit buds are formed only on young shoots no more than 5 years old. Old branches only suck nutrients, so it is necessary to get rid of them.

Pruning currant bushes, in addition to yield, helps achieve the following goals:

increase in berry size;
improving the taste characteristics of fruits by removing thickened branches and receiving more sunlight;
bush formation;
stimulating the growth of young branches;
increasing the fruiting period to 15 years;
removal of diseased, dry or frostbitten shoots;
acceleration of growth and development of the bush;
stimulating the flow of nutrients to young branches.

It is in the fall that you should prune bushes. During this period, the currant is preparing for winter, there is no sap flow, so the plant experiences this event less painfully.

Pruning is not an easy process, especially for beginners. You need to know all the nuances.

Important. Pruning is carried out so that each branch is illuminated by the sun.

Event Tools

The tool must be sharp. If they have previously trimmed bushes and trees, then it must be disinfected to avoid infecting the bushes with diseases.

To remove old shoots you will need:

Secateurs. They can remove thin branches and shoots of medium thickness.
Garden knife. With its help, all cuts are smooth, but the procedure can only be carried out on thin branches.
Hacksaw. It can be used to trim thick shoots. It is advisable to choose a hacksaw with small teeth.
Lopper. This tool will be needed if pruning needs to be done in hard-to-reach places. He has long arms.
Brush cutter. It is convenient to use for removing branches of any thickness and giving shape to a bush.

In order to have gorgeous currant bushes in your garden, you need to use such a powerful agrotechnical technique as pruning. After all, it is correct pruning allows you to optimally form the crown, increase the yield, and improve the quality of the berries. In addition, with the help of pruning, it is possible to delay the exposure of the internal parts of the crown, improve their growth, fruiting and fruit quality in aging shrubs, and lengthen their period of productive age. How and when to prune currants, according to what patterns, as well as what to do with an old and neglected bush, how to care for the bush after harvesting, will be discussed in our article.

Why prune currants?

The main crop of black currants is formed on branches 1-3 years old, mostly on their young annual growth. 4-year-old, and especially older 5-year-old branches give weak growth and, accordingly, a very weak harvest, in other words, they no longer bear fruit at full strength, but only suck nutrients from the bush and the ground. The situation is aggravated by the fact that old branches are often affected by diseases, excessively shade the bush and prevent young shoots from developing.

Timely and correct pruning of currants provokes the growth of new root shoots from the underground part of the bush, which are sometimes called “zero” or annual shoots, and also promotes branching of the bush on perennial branches. Thus, constant replacement of shoots prevents stagnation berry bush, causing it to bear fruit abundantly every year.

Important! In the future, when pruning currants, it will help you a lot if you know the structure of the bush.

When to prune currants in the fall: optimal timing

Most gardeners recommend after the summer harvest conduct only sanitary pruning bushes, and shaping and rejuvenating - already in the fall, after the bush sheds its leaves. It is better to wait until the leaves turn yellow and fall off, so that assimilates from old branches have time to flow into the roots and be used by the bush as reserve nutrients in winter.

Thus, the approximate dates for pruning currants after harvesting (fruiting) are July-September, and in the fall - September-October. In the South of Russia - earlier, more northern region, in the same middle lane(Moscow region) - noticeably later.

When is it better to prune - autumn or spring?

Many gardeners cannot decide when it is better to prune currants - in spring or autumn. In general, pruning can be done both in spring and in autumn period. However, in the spring there is noticeably less time to prune currants than in the fall. This is due to the fact that when spring comes, the fruit buds of the bush swell very early (in March), in other words, it can be problematic to keep up. If you prune after the buds have opened, this will greatly injure the bush, which means that its fruiting will begin late. Therefore, it is advisable to prune currants precisely late autumn, and in the spring you can monitor the results.

Important! If for some reason you still missed pruning in the fall, then, in principle, the same thing is done.

How to prune currants in the fall: basic rules and recommendations

Advice! When pruning a bush, you should definitely use a special garden tool (you can’t break it off with your hands), namely a regular pruner. It's even better to also take pruning shears with long handles. Each of the devices must be sharp. This is necessary in order not to provoke painful injuries.

What branches and shoots currants needs to be trimmed after fruiting (harvest) and in autumn:

Important! If you shorten the branch and see that in the center inside her black hole, that is, she struck by glass, That such shoot must be removed. Although, of course, you can try to cut it back to healthy wood, but most often you have to cut it off completely (to the ground).

How to prune branches and shoots correctly currants in autumn:

Thus, as a result, a 4-year-old bush should have about 12-20 branches of zero order of different ages. Classic scheme: 3-5 annual branches, 3-5 biennial branches, 3-5 three-year branches and 3-5 four-year branches (but it’s better to get rid of them too).

Video: pruning currants in autumn

By the way! The tops of currants remaining after shortening annual branches can be conveniently used as cuttings for rooting before winter, in other words, at the same time the shrub can be propagated using cuttings.

Video: how to prune currants in the fall

Scheme of formative pruning by year

If you are growing a shrub from scratch, planting it as an annual seedling (or), then you should adhere to a certain pattern for pruning currants as they grow:

After planting the seedling– everything above 4 buds from the base of the soil is removed. Such radical pruning helps correct formation crowns Next year, at least 4-8 young shoots will grow from the remaining buds.
after 1 year— pruning (more precisely, pinching) of the tops of all young branches is carried out 1/3 above the buds.
in 2 years– pruning (pinching) of all zero shoots, as well as parts of the skeletal branches, is again carried out. On 2-year-old branches, you need to get rid of competing annual growth up to a strong lateral branch (you need to leave stronger shoots with more buds) in order to enhance the growth of the remaining part of the branch, and for better branching, cut off all the tops of all other growths of the first and second order above their kidneys. This will provoke the growth of young shrubs not upward, but in width.
3 years later– fully correspond to pruning on a 3-year-old seedling. It is necessary to eliminate all shoots that thicken the internal branches of the bush. If all the conditions are met correctly, then by the 4th year you will get a lush, formed shrub.
for 4 years and beyond- at this moment, aging shoots begin to form. At the end of the season, all old branches should be removed at the roots. All other shoots after the 5th year of the plant’s life are pruned according to the 2nd year type (3-year-old seedling). In addition, it is necessary to leave 4-5 new zero replacement shoots every year.

Important! When cutting and shaping red or white currants There are a couple of nuances that are described in a separate paragraph.

You can see an illustrated diagram of currant pruning by year in the picture below:

Video: pruning 1, 2 and 3-year-old currant bushes in the fall

What to do with an old and neglected bush - how to prune it

If you inherited an old plot, or you bought a dacha with already overly thickened currant bushes (but which are no more than 10-15 years old) that produce a meager harvest, then, in principle, you can try to revive it by carrying out proper anti-aging pruning. Moreover, it is better to do this in 2 stages.

Naturally, It’s better to start with sanitary pruning currant bush, and then cut out all the old branches. The bush will be cleared, in other words, they will create the necessary conditions for the growth of young shoots of zero order. And already next year you can start pinch the tops of annual shoots for their better branching, that is, you will form a bush.

By the way! A currant bush can grow well and bear fruit normally for no more than 15 years (the maximum is 20 years). Then you need to get rid of it, and first by propagating it using one of the vegetative methods.

The difference in pruning red and white currants from black ones

One of the main differences in pruning white and red currants from black is the fact that the latter pruned much more often. In other words, the black variety requires more control in growth and, accordingly, is pruned more often. The growth of red and white currants zero shoots more reserved, besides she can bear fruit normally on 5-7 year old branches, while black is only for 3-4 year olds. Thus, if you do not regularly prune the blackcurrant, it will crush itself with overgrown branches deep into the bush. The same applies to red and white currants, but in this case there is no such need to remove branches older than 4-5 years.

However! If the annual growth of perennial branches becomes less than 15 centimeters, then they should be disposed of. But you need to be careful when pruning old branches with multiple branches of red currants, because... they give a fairly good harvest (unlike the black variety).

Video: pruning red currants to obtain good harvest

Another important difference in trimming is that Blackcurrant tops should not be shortened too much, otherwise you will be left without a significant part of the harvest, whereas red and white are possible.

Video: what is the difference between pruning black and red currants

What to do after autumn pruning of currants

The activities for autumn care caring for the bush after harvest (in addition to pruning) also includes:

cleaning the tree trunk circle from old mulch and loosening;
watering and fertilizing;

Note! About, how to properly feed currants in the fall after fruiting, read.

treatment against pests and diseases;
shelter (mulching) for the winter.

Important! Read more about what and how to do in the fall in order to properly prepare currants for winter, you will learn .

Pruning currants in the fall is not so difficult, especially if you follow the advice and the proposed scheme. Over time, even novice gardeners will be able to understand and master everything.

Video: how to prune blackcurrants correctly

Note! Of course, when experts show you, everything seems simple and clear. But you are standing near your bush and don’t know what to do, how and what to prune. Don't be upset, everything comes with experience. Therefore, you need to try, don’t be afraid to experiment, and everything will definitely work out for you.

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The wonderful currant berry, tasty, prolific, rich in elements useful and necessary for human health, is deservedly loved by gardeners. The best reward for summer residents is to collect a rich harvest of these wonderful berries. Currant bushes are long-bearing plants that can produce abundant harvests for up to twenty years.
It's not enough to choose the best varieties currants and, without making any effort, expect that from year to year they will actively bear fruit. Like any plants, currant bushes love care and attention. Simple agrotechnical measures, the main one of which is autumn pruning of currants, will significantly improve the well-being of the bush and it will repay with a rich harvest of delicious berries.