Winter Pruning

It’s still not too late to do some pruning of you fruit trees and bushes. Here are some thoughts from a “proper gardener” George Anderson:-

Winter Pruning.

Pruning is done to remove dead, dying and diseased branches, BlackCurrentand allow light and air to the centre of the plant.  Lack of air movement encourages the growth of fungus and increases the chance of rotting.

Curved blade secateurs give a clean cut whereas an anvil blade crushes the stem, allowing disease spores to be drawn in.  Use loppers or a saw for thick stems.

Top Fruit e.g. apple or pear

Cordon – Plant tree sloping to the north to allow the sun along the whole of the tree, so distributing growth along the full stem and better distribution of buds up the tree.  Cut off side shoots to 6 inches to encourage fruit buds near the stem.  Aim for 6 branches per tree.  One shoot will grow as the leader showing apical dominance.  The vegetative buds are small and are at the top of the leader whereas the fruit buds are fatter and grow on top of a wrinkly piece of wood.  Take the vegetative section back by about one third to about 6 inches.

Espalier – Cut off the tip of the leader.  Cut off any branches which can’t be tied into shape.

Bush – Treat each branch as a Cordon.

SOFT FRUIT 

Gooseberries, Red currants and White Currants:     Fruit grows on old wood and basal part of young wood. Gooseberry The fruit buds are the pointy fat buds.  Take back side shoots to 2 buds.  You need to make space round each branch to allow access to pick the fruit.  Create space in the middle of the bush to create air flow and cut off any branches too near the ground, as these bushes need a 6”(15cm) leg to keep the fruit off the ground.

Prunings can be used as cuttings.  Take an 8” (20cm) pruning and remove buds from bottom 6” (15 cm).  Insert the 6” of stem in ground.  When rooted, plant about 2” (5cm) deep.  The remainder will not shoot because you have removed the buds and will become the leg of the bush.

Plums:  Only prune to keep within bounds.  Prune thick branches in summer ONLY, but thin small branches can be pruned in winter.  Fruit buds are on young growth.  The thick wood is the structure of the plant.

Cherries:        Treat like plums, so prune to keep within bounds.  Cover with fleece in spring to protect flowers from frost.

Blackcurrants:   The fruit grows on young wood of the previous year’s growth, so there needs to be a lot of young growth, i.e. shoots from the base of the plant.  Remove crossing branches and clear out the centre.  Don’t prune the tips, unless the bush is much too tall.

Prunings can be used as cuttings.  Take an 8” (20 cm) pruning and insert 6” (15cm) into the ground.  Leave the buds on the cutting as these will become shoots when it is rooted and planted at around 2” (5 cm) deep.

Raspberries:  Remove all old fruiting canes Raspberryfrom summer fruiting varieties.  Tie in new canes to wire.  6 canes per clump.  Best planted on a slight ridge.  Autumn fruiting raspberries should be cut down totally to ground in winter.  If a stalk is left, it will produce summer raspberries on it, and autumn raspberries on the new growth.

Loganberry, Tayberry, Bramble:    Take out all old fruit branches to base, since growth comes from the ground.  Allow 5 new strong canes per plant.  Remove excess side shoots from new shoots and shorten, if necessary.  Bundle up loose shoots and tie to post or create a framework.

Blueberries: These bushes need very acid soil.  Fruit is formed on 2nd and 3rd year branches, so only remove branches that are weak, crossing or close to the soil, or over 4 years old.

Winter Pruning

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