For the first time, the gooseberry is cut off as soon as the seedling is planted: all the branches are shortened, leaving no more than five buds. There is no need to be afraid, next year the plant will expel many young shoots - the gooseberry is the first among the berries in this. This is where it is important not to yawn, but to do the correct shaping of the bush.
In this article we will talk about when it is better to prune gooseberries, which method of shaping to choose and how to act if the existing berry is over-thickened.
When to prune gooseberries
The most optimal time to "cut" fruit and berry bushes is early spring, before the juices begin to move and the buds swell.
However, it should be borne in mind that gooseberries wake up much earlier than others. The snow cover does not have time to completely melt, and the buds on the bush have already come to life. But not every summer resident manages to get to his garden through the snow. In April, when we start the summer cottage, the gooseberry bushes are already covered with leaves. And this means that the time for pruning is missed, now there will be no benefit to the plant from it.
The only possible option is to form a bush in the fall, when the foliage falls. The main thing is not to forget that the branches need to be cut above the inner bud (the one that faces the inside of the bush) - this stimulates the forcing of young shoots.
Ways to form a gooseberry bush
In order to correctly select the branches to be pruned, you first need to decide on the method of forming the bush. The usual form of gooseberry is an ordinary bush, but desire and diligence help to grow it on a trellis - and in relation to this, use the trellis pruning method. And you can form a plant into a sprawling low tree (standard method).
And yet, according to experienced gardeners, classic gooseberry bushes give the largest harvest. Although the standard version looks more beautiful and takes up a minimum of space, and the trellis one is more convenient when harvesting. Therefore, the choice is yours!
Standard gooseberry
In this case, the gooseberry bush grows like a miniature tree. How to grow it? There are no particular difficulties in forming by the standard method.
The first step is to choose the strongest branch that grows vertically. She will take on the role of the future "trunk". Other shoots are cut to the ground.
Then the height of the stem is determined. The most convenient and popular is the meter height. Therefore, all lateral appendages are completely trimmed to the desired level. In order not to repeat this procedure in the future, it is advisable to put a 1.1 m long tube on the trunk (which does not let the sun go through), and immerse 10 extra centimeters in the soil. After that, the gooseberry is strengthened with a peg so that the tree does not break.
The next year and further they are pruned according to the classical scheme: four or five branches of this year are left, and last year's are reduced by half. In addition to them, shoots downward, broken and those older than 7 years are removed. The shoots that form at the base are cut off completely and immediately, otherwise they will take away nutrients from the trunk.
The stamp form has both positive and negative aspects. The advantages are that the resulting tree significantly saves space, and this is important for small areas. Also on the stem, the berries are illuminated by rays more uniformly, they ripen faster and are not at all difficult to pick.
And the disadvantages are as follows. First: standard forms require frost-resistant varieties, because it is more difficult for a tall tree to endure a harsh winter than an ordinary bush near the ground. In addition, in the northern regions, the plant needs to be additionally covered. Second: we use only one branch as a trunk, and it is gradually aging. And therefore, the life span of a gooseberry tree is a maximum of 10-12 years with good care.
Gooseberry on a trellis
Usually on the trellis there are vigorous varieties that form a large number of shoots.
The name itself suggests that in this situation you will have to work hard not only with pruning, but also with the construction of a trellis. Gooseberries are planted with fifty centimeters wide between seedlings and one and a half meters wide between rows. In each row, supports (stakes, rough branches, low pipes) are dug in at equal intervals. A wire or synthetic thread is pulled between them in three rows. Their height: 1 meter, 80 and 50 centimeters from the ground surface. The shoots of the plant are subsequently tied here, maintaining a distance of 15-25 cm between them - but no more than three to five strongest branches of the bush. Other processes, including basal ones, are cut as they grow.
The subsequent pruning with a trellis method is similar to the classical one: last year's shoots are reduced by a third or half, they are tied up 3-5 branches of this year, they make sure that there is no thickening. Periodically, they do a rejuvenating procedure - several powerful basal shoots are separated in advance, and all others are completely removed.
What are the advantages of gooseberry trellis formation? The very first is that it is much more convenient to harvest the "tapestry" crop, and the berries will never be smeared. Again, we repeat: the tied branches are more evenly illuminated by the sun's rays, which provides a greater volume and number of fruits. The trellis has, perhaps, only one minus, and even then it is small - high labor intensity at the initial stage.
The classic way to form gooseberries
The classic pruning method leaves the gooseberry bush as a regular bush, but removes everything that is unnecessary.
In the first year, all young branches are shortened by about a third, leaving 4-5 buds on each. The basal shoots are carefully examined. Three or four powerful, growing in the desired direction are left, the rest are removed. In addition, they cut off the shoots directed to the ground or inside the bush, broken, sick, dried out, weak, resting on the soil - they will not give berries, and they will pull off nutrients.
In the second year, the young are again reduced by a third, and the basal processes are cut out, leaving 6-8 strongest ones.
The next year, the bush will already begin to bear fruit and will consist of 12-15 branches of different seniority. The pruning scheme remains the same: we remove a third of the length from the shoots of this year and for the further development of the plant we leave 3-4 processes from the strongest basal ones.
At the age of 5-7 years - it is at this time that the gooseberry is at the peak of fruiting - the plant should have 18-20 uneven-aged shoots.
From this moment, every year after the fall of leaves, you need to completely cut off the old branches that are more than five to seven years old. It is easy to distinguish them from young ones - they have a darker shade of the bark. Otherwise, the formation process remains the same.
Pruning each year and periodically removing old shoots will help your gooseberry bush to stay young at all times and delight you with a large and large harvest. But what to do if the bushes in your garden are very thickened, but still young enough to completely use them up? We'll have to apply decisive anti-aging pruning! This means that you need to either cut to the base about 70% of the shoots, leaving only the strongest,or cut the whole bush, not reaching about fifteen centimeters to the soil surface, to stimulate the growth of young growth.
