Pruning of gooseberry in spring

Gooseberries are a common berry crop growing in a temperate climatic zone. Today there are quite a few varieties of gooseberry , which differ in the taste of berries (with sour, sweet, slightly sugary), in size and shape. The only drawback of this plant is a lot of spiny branches and young shoots, which strongly thicken the bush and prevent harvesting. Over time, the bush grows wild and stops giving berries, so it has to be uprooted.

To avoid wildness, you need to look after gooseberries , namely, loosen the soil, feed and form a bush. To prune the bush you need to start the next year after planting. At the same time, a suitable time for planting is autumn, and it is better to prune gooseberry bushes early in the spring, before opening the buds.

How to properly cut gooseberries in spring?

Pruning is the main method of increasing yield. Cutting the bush can regulate the processes of fructification and growth of not only the whole plant, but also its individual parts.

The best time for pruning is early spring, when the sap flow begins. Note that gooseberries wake up immediately after melting snow. After the kidneys "burst" to engage in plant formation is undesirable - it can weaken it.

The pruning of gooseberries in the spring involves the following:

1. Formation of seedlings. Before planting, shorten all shoots. On strong branches leave three four kidneys, and on weaker two kidneys. Subsequently, new branches and radical (zero) shoots begin to grow from the remaining kidneys. Some gardeners remove all weak branches, leaving some strong straight shoots. They become the basis for the formation of the crown of the bush.
2. Pruning gooseberries for the second year. Harvest is formed on shoots of the second branch of branching, which grow in the second year after planting. To the new branching was strong and fruitful you need to remove weak root shoots and leave 3-4 developed shoots. By the autumn of the second year, three annual shoots and three biennial shoots with growths and forks will be found on the bush.
3. Care for a three-year bush. By the end of the third year in gooseberries should be 20-30 branches of different ages. These are the globular branches that will form the basis of the bush. From this point on, all the young shoots need to be cut.
4. Annual pruning trim. A bush with a formed base and a crown must be cut every year. To do this, remove the branches that thicken gooseberry. Cut the broken and frozen branches completely or to the first healthy kidney. Shorten the drooping tips of stretched shoots to the nearest strong branch.

To trim gooseberries, use the garden pruner . To protect your hands from sharp spines, wear special gloves.

Spring pruning of old gooseberry

Sometimes gardeners remember about gooseberry only a few years after planting. Such a shrub has many thin shoots without berries and a well developed basal cavity. The thickened bush should be carefully weeded and leave radical shoots and strong branches. The greatest number of large berries is formed on branches of 1-3 orders. Branching of the fourth and fifth order in the bush over seven years are unproductive and only weaken gooseberries. Therefore, correct pruning of gooseberries not only forms the crown, but also stimulates the formation of productive shoots.

If the bush is older than eight years, then it can be rejuvenated by radical pruning. To do this, remove all weak shoots and leave 4-5 strong skeletal branches. After this, formation begins from the very beginning.

If the spring pruning of the bush is missed, then the old branches should be removed in autumn, after harvesting. The rest of the pruning is transferred to the spring.