Contents of the article:
Gooseberries - a shrub that easily releases new shoots, and each season requires careful maintenance and timely processing of the plant. If this is not done, then there are a lot of branches, and it is not so easy to remove unnecessary shoots covered with sharp thorns. In addition, the gooseberry loves light - the quality of the crop directly depends on it. The food received by the plant from the roots is evenly distributed along the branches. The more shoots, the smaller and tasteless fruit. How to cut gooseberries in the fall and can it be done at other times of the year?
You cannot use the elemental method for cutting gooseberries. This process is carried out according to certain rules. But the next season, when the technique of work will be mastered, pruning will be done quickly and efficiently.
What tools are needed when cutting gooseberry?
How to properly cut gooseberry bushes, what improvised means to use? For garden work, it is desirable to take a special garden file or a well-sharpened pruner. You can use scissors with elongated handles designed for trimming branches. With their help it will not be so difficult to get into the center of the bush. You should wear tight gloves or gloves on your hands so as not to injure your fingers on numerous spikes.
The first pruning before planting
Before planting a gooseberry bush in the ground, it must already be first treated. Shoots should be shortened so that they do not have more than 4 buds. No need to worry about the bush - thanks to the seemingly merciless treatment of gooseberries in the future will give an excellent harvest.
The gardener's task is to monitor the growing ends of the shoots and remove the "dead" branches. If the shoots are weak and short( less than 7 cm), then they should be cut to the place where the branch has formed quite good and healthy branches. On the thin and brittle ends of the berries still do not appear, but the nutrients entering the apical buds, take away the vitality from more healthy shoots.
What to do with zero shoots?
Zero shoots are called branches that grow near the surface of the earth. It is desirable to cut them by 1 quarter. Then the bush will let a lot of new shoots. You need to carefully inspect the branches from the outside. Having found the strongest bud, the shoot must be cut 10 cm above. In this case, the new twig will grow outward, and not deep.
When is it better to cut gooseberries?
There is no point in processing the gooseberry when sap flow begins. Pruning should be done much earlier than the moment when the first buds appear on the twigs. Otherwise, the plant will be very sick and may die.
Gardeners do not like pruning in the spring, because the period allowed to remove excess shoots is very short. It is better to start work in the fall, when the bush “falls asleep” and the processes of assimilation of nutrients in it slow down.
Pruning dog hips after harvesting is good because you can see weak and dead branches with the naked eye and take it easy to remove them. And in the spring will only form a bush.
Features of autumn processing gooseberry
The care of gooseberries in the fall is very important. Pruning a year after planting is required. All the necessary actions need to be done before the onset of cold weather, so that the plant will have time to “come to its senses,” and the places of the cut-offs become dry. Autumn allows the removal of dead and weak branches, but shoots should not be shortened. The plant will start up new twigs, frost will come, and young twigs may die.
So what should you do?
- A thorough examination of the bark will allow you to draw the right conclusions about the age of the branches.
- Blackened, dark, lifeless shoots need to be removed immediately.
- If a bush is many years old, and almost all branches no longer bear fruit, it is impossible to cut all branches in one go. With seasonal pruning, at least 1 third of the branches should be left.
- You can safely remove the branches that are located too low or far from the main bush.
Proper pruning of the gooseberries in the fall will not worry about the shrub in the spring, because during the period of active melting of the snow, all that is needed is to remove the twigs frozen during the winter from the bushes, shorten the thin shoots and cut off those that have grown on the ground.
Gooseberry pruning should be done every year.
Gooseberry begins to actively bear fruit 5-6 years after planting the bush in the ground, so the first years is the formation of the root system. There are no berries, few leaves.
Forming a shrub, it is worth leaving 3-4 zero escapes. Due to this, a large number( up to about 25) of strong branches of different age will appear on the bush over a 5-year period. After a marked period, the gooseberry bush will begin to bring a great harvest. Over the next 4-5 years, the berries will cover the shrub abundantly, and by the age of 8-9 years, the aging of the branches will begin.
As soon as the next escape from the land appears, it should be shorter by 1 quarter, make sure that all branches “live” in the rays of light and do not forget to cut off the branches that are trying to growdeep into the bush.
What not to do?
It is important not to make mistakes when processing gooseberry, so that the works of previous years were not wasted.
- Pruning gooseberries in the summer can end sadly, because new shoots are still too fragile and weak to withstand the onslaught of the first autumn and winter frosts.
- If the branches bear fruit, they can not remove growths, which period - 1 year. In the spring they should be examined and cut off those that have turned black and dried. The shoot turns black when it is struck by powdery mildew and dies if it did not have time to become covered with dense light bark before the frost. Summer processing of the shrub is reduced to the fact that in early July, pinch the apical buds of the twigs, thereby blocking the flow of nutrients to the very tops.
- In no case should the entire shrub be cut off to make it younger.1 third of the branches should always be left. It would be unwise to expect a bountiful harvest from a bush that has already turned 20 or 30 years old.
Compliance with these tips will allow for many years to obtain excellent yields of gooseberry berries. Carefully studying the necessary information, beginning gardeners will protect themselves from possible misses.
