Pruning gooseberries: details of the annual care of the bush
One of the important measures for the care of gooseberries is pruning. Made correctly and in the right time, it will improve the health of the bush and will be the key to a good harvest.
Why do you need pruning
Having a large number of prickly branches and young shoots, which excessively thicken the bush and interfere with the harvest, the culture requires pruning. She, in the first place, will avoid the savagery of the bush and the cessation of fruiting.
Gooseberry pruning is a must. If you ignore this recommendation, then you can find in a couple of years on his site overgrown bush with small and tasteless berries. In addition, they will be very difficult to collect due to the presence of spikes. Or the plant can die completely. Breeders have bred many new Bezkolyuchkova varieties of culture. But they also need pruning.
Forming a gooseberry bush will give a comfortable harvest of your favorite berries in the future, getting big and tasty fruits, facilitation of care. Another pruning of gooseberry bush is needed to rid the plant of dry, old and damaged branches. It allows the gardener to form a full-fledged shrub, which will be viable shoots of different ages.
Tools
To carry out quality pruning, tools should be prepared. You need to take a secateurs, which has a sharp cutting edge or a garden saw. Practice shows, that it is convenient to cut branches and garden shears, which are endowed with long handles. To protect the skin of the hands during operation, use gloves or tight gloves.
when to trim
Experienced gardeners are confident, that the formation of a gooseberry bush should be carried out or in the spring, when the culture has not yet regained consciousness after hibernation, or in the fall before the onset of cold weather. Spring is a great time to work. At this time, the vegetation of shrubs has not yet begun. But you must have time to perform all the manipulations before the start of juicing. Otherwise, pruning can not only weaken the culture, but also cause her considerable harm.
If there is no possibility or desire to do pruning in the spring, you can remove the branches partially in summer, but after that, how the harvest will be harvested. And the main work will be postponed until the arrival of autumn.
bush formation
The first correct pruning of gooseberries is normally carried out before, as a seedling will be placed on the plot. Before planting annual shoots on it must be shortened to that point, until a pair of kidneys remain. If the seedling is sufficiently developed, it is permissible to leave it intact and 4 kidneys. This procedure allows you to increase the branching of shoots. Weak shoots should be ruthlessly pruned, as they will take away food from the viable.
About that, that everything is done correctly, by the winter of the first year of life the seedlings will be evidenced by growing on bushes 5-6 annual shoots. In the spring, for the second year of bush growth, last year's shoots are subject to shortening by a third or a quarter of the length. With the advent of spring or autumn, it is recommended to begin to remove the weakened, deformed or diseased branches. This procedure is called sanitary pruning and is performed regularly. In the case of its implementation, cultures have the opportunity to grow normally and develop fully.
To prevent pests and viruses from attacking a healthy part of the bush, it is better not to postpone annual pruning. When the bush grows on the site already 4-5 years, obsolete branches are advised to prune, focusing on the first lateral branching from the top, endowed with strong increments. If the harvest was sufficient, you can postpone the procedure to 1 year.
At the end 3 years from the beginning of intensive growth of a branch of a gooseberry stops lengthening. During this period, the increase is mainly due to existing branches on the side. To provide complete nutrition to the branches, on which good berries have ripened, old pruning is usually performed, on which smaller fruits appeared. This procedure can be called a light rejuvenating. Summer pruning should be done annually, with rare exceptions.
Many novice gardeners are interested, how to properly prune your gooseberries in order to rejuvenate it? This pruning should be done for seven- and eight-year crops, so that the degree of their fruiting is not reduced due to excessive growth of branches. Ideally, the bush should consist of branches of different ages - from 1 to 8 years. Known varieties of gooseberries, which have no replacement shoots in that period, when cultures enter the period of maturity. They need especially careful pruning and fertilization.
To protect berries and crops from molds and pests, living in the ground, it is recommended to create supports for adult shrubs. Then the branches will not lie on the soil surface and will not be able to take root.
Unusual ways of pruning
Gooseberry is by nature a spreading shrub, which can be given any shape to your liking, changing the principle of its growth. Today such methods are known, as a classic, stem and formation on the wallpaper.
The classic method allows the gardener in the future to gather a rich harvest of favorite berries. When choosing a trunk method, gooseberries will be quite compact on the site. Outwardly, it will be a beautiful spreading tree. If you grow on the wallpaper, then the harvesting procedure will be as convenient as possible for the gardener.
When choosing a classic method, you should cut all the branches and shoots, get rid of the weakened, sick and damaged in any way branches. The classic method of formation involves annual pruning. V 1 year should be pruned branches so, that on each remained no more 5 kidney. Of the basal shoots can be left intact no more 4 branches. IN 2 year, all the shoots available in the bush are shortened by one third of the length. Of the basal advised to leave until 8 the most viable shoots.
On 3-4 last year you need to cut last year's branches to one third of the length. Of the new shoots normally leave the maximum 4. So, at the beginning of fruiting shrub he should have no more 15 branches of different ages. Do not forget about the need to get rid of the branches, affected by some disease, or they grow incorrectly. When from the moment of landing on a site of a sapling will pass 5-7 years, comes the most serious pruning. Be sure to remove old branches at the root. Identify them really by the dark trunk. At this time the bushes should be present before 20 branches of different ages.
When choosing a trunk method is based on the most viable and upright escape, having a branch. The central shoot with all the branches is usually shortened to a height of about 1 meters. It is necessary to take care of creating a support from a piece of pipe, boards, sticks. At carrying out pruning patients are subject to removal, broken, branches grow incorrectly. Be sure to prune the branches, which has already been fulfilled 5 years. Of the new ones are advised to leave intact 5 things.
The advantages of the trunk method include obtaining berries in sufficient quantities and uniform contact with the surface, facilitating harvesting, saving space in the backyard. Formed in height, a compact bush can not boast of frost resistance, grows old quickly, already at the age 12 years is not able to bear fruit normally.
That the gooseberry could settle down correctly and grow on a wall-paper, he needs to have strong shoots. Therefore, the wallpaper method of formation is not suitable for all varieties of culture. The principle of planting is as follows. Between the bushes you need to leave somewhere 0,5 meters, and in between rows - about 1,5 meters. Be sure to install supports for future wallpapers. Pipes will be able to fulfill their role, pegs or boards. You will need to stretch the wire between them, to which the shoots will be tied.
Usually the distance between the stretched wire is 50-100 cm. You must select to 5 long and viable branches. The distance between them is normally 15 cm. Those branches, which remained, each year you need to cut in half the length. Of the new shoots are left intact when pruning no more 4 things. Be sure to remove the root shoots.
Video "How to prune gooseberries"
In this video you will learn about it, how to properly prune gooseberries.
