It might not be the most appealing temperatures in which to dig your secateurs out of the shed to prune your fruit bushes, but winter is the most ideal time to complete the task.
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Successful pruning is all in the timing: if you prune too early, in late autumn or early winter, it can reduce hardiness and it might weaken the plant. This might affect the following season’s growth, and your bushes might be more susceptible to pests and diseases. You might also find you are harvesting less berries next year.
Leave it until the leaves have fallen and the bush is dormant before you get stuck in, as this will also make it easier to see where you are cutting. Although the weather might seem more bearable during the autumn months, pruning now might encourage new growth, which will be vulnerable to frost.
Why bother pruning?
Pruning your fruit bushes is a good idea for several reasons:
Many fruit bushes become a tangle of stems after rampant growth from the previous season; pruning lets light and air into the centre of the plant, helping to prevent diseases and making it easier to access the fruit.
Pruning also lets you dictate the shape of your fruit bushes. By creating a strong framework of branches, you will actively encourage growth in a direction that suits the plant and the available space.
Crucially, pruning is necessary to cut back old wood that's no longer productive, and it will encourage new growth on stems up to four years old.
How to prune
It might seem a bit complicated at first, but once you understand the mechanisms behind it, pruning soon starts to make complete sense. You'll need to employ different strategies according to the type and age of the fruit bush in question.
For blackcurrant bushes, pruning is important to encourage young shoots to grow from the base - flowers and fruit form on the previous year's shoots. Any shoots more than two years old should be cut down to a height of 2.5cm. Wood older than two years is grey or black, while new shoots are light brown.
Redcurrants, white currants and gooseberries are best grown as open-centred bushes. Prune the tips of redcurrant and white currant branches, and cut back side shoots to an outward-facing bud.
For gooseberry bushes, cut back old wood to open them up, keeping young shoots pointing upwards and outwards. Alternatively, you can tip prune the main stems, whilst cutting back side shoots to a bud around 8cm from the base. Remember, keep the shape of the bush open by pruning to an outward facing bud.
How hard should you prune your bushes back?
Don’t overdo it! Maybe it’s a job you just didn’t get around to last year or perhaps you’ve had an abundance of growth this season, but don’t be tempted to go in too hard. Excessive cutting back can stress the plant, so maybe shape the plant and come back to it again at the end of next year’s growing season.
You should also consider that specific pruning techniques might differ between different varieties and their growth habits. I would check with your local garden centre if you require further guidance.
Mulching
Adding organic matter to the soil is also beneficial at this time of year. Known as mulching, you can use garden compost, topsoil or bark. Mulching adds nutrients to the soil, helping to encourage growth later on in the year, but it also suppresses weeds and retains moisture in the soil.
A word of warning: Once you have gone to the effort of pruning and mulching your fruit bushes to encourage vigorous growth in the summer months, you won't be the only one keen to taste the fruits of your labour. Birds in general, but particularly blackbirds and thrushes, will strip the fruit in one fell swoop given half the chance, so fruit cages are vital if you want to have any chance of tasting it for yourself.
