How to look after raspberry and blackcurrant bushes?

Baking_Mad

We've recently moved into a gorgeous country cottage. About a month ago I noticed that there is an area at the side of the garden with raspberry and blackcurrant plants. The area is seroiusly overgrown. Today I managed to fight my way through the nettles and climbed into it. At some point in the past the plants were looked after as there is a string supporting raspberry bushes from falling and there is a lot of fruit. I will be making some jam in the next few days but would like to know how to look after the plants so we have plenty of fruit in the years to come. I'm not much of a gardener and know nothing about pruning so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

RAS

Ok

The blackcurrants are bushes; the raspberries are canes.

There are two types of raspberries, summer and autumn fruiting and they need very different pruning so it pays to work out which. if you are lucky, you have both.

I would start by cutting all the brown brittle raspberry canes that have borne fruit in previous years to the floor. That will allow you to see what you have got.

Be careful of the new green canes, as they are next year's fruit.

With respect to the blackcurrant, look at the bush and see if there are any stems that are lighter brown and less knobbly than the others (which could be 30 mm across, black and very woody).

You want to cut out about one third of the bush soon after you have picked the fruit, and leave all or nearly all the newer brown stems.

That will encourage it to grow new wood and then you can start to regenerate the bushes.

Baking_Mad

RAS wrote: »

Ok

The blackcurrants are bushes; the raspberries are canes.

There are two types of raspberries, summer and autumn fruiting and they need very different pruning so it pays to work out which. if you are lucky, you have both.

I would start by cutting all the brown brittle raspberry canes that have borne fruit in previous years to the floor. That will allow you to see what you have got.

Be careful of the new green canes, as they are next year's fruit.

With respect to the blackcurrant, look at the bush and see if there are any stems that are lighter brown and less knobbly than the others (which could be 30 mm across, black and very woody).

You want to cut out about one third of the bush soon after you have picked the fruit, and leave all or nearly all the newer brown stems.

That will encourage it to grow new wood and then you can start to regenerate the bushes.

Thank you very much. Wow, there is a lot of information to take in! Your signature made me feel a bit better though

RAS

Yep - by and large if you get it wrong, stuff re-grows.

tanith

Just wanted to add that Autumn fruiting Raspberries canes should be cut down to the ground in late Winter as they flower on the same years canes... they usually fruit in late August or September.. mine are just starting to flower now..

Orange_King

I'm assuming that its ok now to cut down canes that have borne fruit this year and are now looking decidedly twiggy and show no signs of life?

youngie

blackcurrants fruit on new wood

forgotmyname

Blackcurrants grow on wood grown the previous year i think?

Same as Raspberries.

Mine was looking rather sorry for itself and hacked it to a fuew buds off the ground.

It gew back stronger for it, But fruited the 2nd year after i did it.

rubytuesday

Yes that is right forgotmyname.

Sambucus_Nigra

rubytuesday wrote: »

Yes that is right forgotmyname.

No - not with Autumn fruting rasps.

OP - the best thing to do with rasps is to cut down canes that have already fruited.

The best thing with blackcurrants is to cut back 1/3 of the stems that have already fruited.

Cut off dead, diseased or crossing stems.

Then, if you still have too many - cut back so that - if you imagine flattening them against a wall you have one every 6 inches...otherwise come next year it's going to be too bushy to get to.

RAS

rubytuesday wrote: »

Yes that is right forgotmyname.

Correct for summer raspberries, but autumn ones fruit on this year's wood.

Autumn ones will in fact give you a small early crop (often earlier than the summer ones) if you cut the canes back to below the last bud that flowered in the autumn. So you get two crops a year of the old and new wood.