In an earlier post I wrote that I had pruned the raspberries and wineberry.
This week my attention was focused on some other fruits.
We have two beds more or less devoted to jostaberries and gooseberries (although they share a bed with some other fruits as well). These beds are two of the few which do not have a deployment of weed control fabric. This is mainly because we became wcf converts after the beds were planted and the bushes matured. To add fabric at this stage would have been difficult and messy. Much blood would have been shed too.
As it is I mainly keep weeds under control by hoeing and hand weeding taking care not to remove young self sown foxgloves and other desirable 'weeds'.
Beds tidied it was time to turn the secateurs on the gooseberries and jostaberries.
The pruning method that I use is basically the same for both plants although the jostaberry is larger and more vigorous and the gooseberry is extremely prickly.
The aim is to open up the centre of each bush by removing any stems growing in the centre of the plant or any 'branches' pointing inwards. Any weak or crossing stems are removed and remaining stems are thinned out to open up the plant and allow good air circulation.
I also cut back any stems that are becoming too long and in danger of blocking pathways and in the case of the gooseberry inflicting unnecessary pain. The jostaberries are also cut back to prevent them becoming too tall. They are already as tall as me.
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| A jostaberry before |
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| A jostaberry after |
It is quite difficult to show the difference before and after pruning in photos, as the plants merge into others in the background, but believe me lots was removed. There are still some gooseberry plants scattered in other parts of the plot that still need attention but I didn't have time to deal with those too.
It was also time to plant out the rooted strawberry runners. The area given to the failed Vibrant strawberries were replanted with Malwina and any gaps left by other failed individuals were replanted in most cases by new plants of the same variety.
One of the uprooted Cambridge Favourite plants - discarded because it didn't fruit well last year - actually came apart to produce about a dozen separate plants. We also had more rooted runners than we needed. Of course you wouldn't expect me to throw these away would you? The gooseberries and jostaberry bushes now have some new bedmates,
I've also cut back any long, new growth coming out from to apple hedge. I'm never sure that I prune this correctly as my method is based on instinct. Correct or not it seems to work.
As well as the apple hedge we have five small trees. The tops of these 'dwarf' apple trees and any branches touching the ground were cut back although some additional shaping needs to be done later.
There are still more fruits to prune including a whitecurrant that I need to read up on and of course the tayberry is still waiting to get its thorns inro me!
There are still more fruits to prune including a whitecurrant that I need to read up on and of course the tayberry is still waiting to get its thorns inro me!
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