Don't forget to prune your fruit bushes!

A lot of this growth needs to go

It's very easy, when the winter seems endless, to think there is plenty of time to prune your  currants or your  gooseberries. Then suddenly spring is upon us and it's a case of getting it done in a tearing hurry. It's a good idea to mark this job on the calendar as one to do over the Christmas break. It can be done when the ground is frozen and other jobs like digging are off the agenda.

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Redcurrants and whitecurrants are pruned like gooseberries - blackcurrants need completely different treatment.
Click here for the RHS page on pruning redcurrants, whitecurrants and gooseberries.
Click here for a page and a nice clear video about planting and pruning blackcurrant bushes,

When you prune blackcurrant or gooseberry bushes, you will often have some young shoots which you have removed. If they are about 9" long or more, plant them! A partly shaded spot with well-drained soil is best. Keep them well-watered in the spring, and unless you are very unlucky, by next autumn you'll have a row of well-rooted young bushes ready for replanting in their final position, or giving away as swapsies. This page will give you more information and pictures on blackcurrants - the technique is pretty much the same for other currants and gooseberries.

These young gooseberry bushes were just last year's prunings, stuck in the ground in a raised bed. Look at them now!

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