What are the rules for pruning black currants in the fall, scheme?

What are the rules for pruning black currants in the fall, the scheme for pruning old bushes is especially interesting. We moved with our family to the village in the grandmother's house. The village there is not bad, quite developed and comfortable. My grandmother's plot is also good, with a solid house and a large garden, but she cannot take care of them due to her age. Actually, that's why we decided to go there, especially since we managed to find a job, and to attach children to a local school. Now we are starting to deal with the garden, and there is just a whole currant thickets in it. Grandma says that this year there was no harvest, and it is not surprising, because the bushes are old and thick. How to trim them correctly?

The amount of harvest and whether the currant berries will be large depend not only on the cultivar. The formation of the bush is also important, thanks to which it receives enough light, air and nutrients. Pruning black currants in the fall will help to achieve these goals, the scheme of which has some general principles, but also depends on the age of the bushes. The easiest way is to cope with young plants that have managed to acquire only a few shoots. There are rules for old currants.

When can you cut currants

When pruning garden crops in autumn, they are usually guided by leaf fall. But in currants it starts earlier than in trees. Therefore, it is also important to take into account the climatic conditions of the growing region. Too early a haircut will only hurt, because currants in a prolonged summer and warm autumn can grow. Such a late growth in winter will definitely die.

In general, autumn pruning is carried out a month before frost. In the south, it can be postponed until the end of October, in the middle lane, in early or mid-October. But in the northern latitudes, where winter comes early, you need to cut the currants in September.

Pruning black currants in the fall - a scheme of the procedure depending on the age of the plants

A freshly planted currant needs a minimal haircut. And for the next 3-4 years, she will not need a cardinal pruning. The gardener's task in the first years of growth is to form the bush correctly. Then he will be strong and healthy, and it will be easier to cut afterwards.

Forming pruning is carried out annually and gradually in this way:

1. In the year of planting, the top of the seedling is only cut off so that it begins to bush.
2. In the second year, they do the same, shortening the tops of the young growth.
3. From the third year, they begin to form the skeleton of the bush. From the young growth, no more than 4 of the strongest branches are left, the rest are cut out. The tops of the remaining shoots are shortened. In addition, the center of the crown is thinned out, if necessary.
4. In the fourth year, it's time to start updating the currant, because it bears fruit only on a young and last year's growth. Some of the very old branches are removed, leaving several shoots of the current year instead. Together with last year's branches, such a bush should have an average of about a dozen shoots.

In the future, every year, repeat the procedure described in the fourth paragraph. This will avoid thickening of the crown and aging of the currants. If you need to cut a very old bush, then you cannot remove all the shoots at once. It is better to cut them out gradually, in a couple of years, leaving young growth to replace it.

Rules for sanitary pruning of currants

In addition to the formative one, sanitary pruning is carried out annually for currants and other berries. It is aimed at the timely identification and removal of problem areas and consists in the following procedures:

• dry, sick, lying on the ground and growing inside the crown shoots are completely cut out;
• old branches are removed from adult plants;
• dried at the tips, but living stems, are shortened to a healthy kidney.

Pruning currants in autumn will not only help keep your plant healthy. This is still a great opportunity to multiply a loved one grade, because there will be a lot of cuttings.

How to prune black currants in the fall