An adult gooseberry bush can form up to 18-22 skeletal branches of different ages. A good harvest can be harvested from them for 4-5 years, and if the soil around the bush is regularly fertilized, then for 7-8 years.
In order to have a good harvest, it is necessary to regularly remove old, diseased, broken skeletal branches, and in their place leave one-year, young, well-developed basal shoots.
Gooseberry
Gooseberry bushes can form skeletal branches of 18-25 pieces of different ages. The bush bears fruit for a very long time, up to 7-8 years without replacement.
Broken, old, disease-damaged gooseberry branches are removed and young, one-year, basal growth is left.
When currant and gooseberry bushes are very old, they produce a small and small crop. Therefore, it needs to be updated.
First, remove 2/3 of the old and weak branches near the ground. During the summer season, the bush will drive away many young basal shoots. Leave only those that are needed for the formation of skeletal branches, everything else must be cut. For the next year, you need to cut out all the old branches completely. New ones will grow again during the season, from which the best ones must also be selected. Thus, rejuvenated bushes will bear fruit for many more years and give good harvests.
Raspberry
Raspberry thickets also need to be “cleared” periodically. The raspberry bush bears fruit in the second year, and then its aerial part dies. Therefore, regular thinning and removal of dry shoots should be carried out regularly. Raspberries give a lot during the growth season, but it makes no sense to leave all the shoots. Because they weaken the bush, the harvest may not be obtained or very little.
Raspberries can be grown in two ways: bush and ribbon:
- The bush method. 8-12 well-formed young one-year shoots are left, all others are mercilessly cut during the summer. In the second year, the bush will give a good harvest.
- Tape method. With this method, a continuous ribbon is created from root shoots and replacement shoots. This strip should be 60-70 cm wide. There should be no more than 15-16 young shoots per one meter in length. During the entire growth period, all other shoots that grow must be removed. In the second year, as soon as the crop is harvested, all the shoots are immediately cut to the ground. They need to be taken out of the garden and burned. New shoots will grow over the summer, from which you need to form a ribbon again. In the spring, as soon as the snow has melted, you need to prune the raspberry branches. To do this, approximately 15 cm of the tops of the shoots are cut. This will allow the lateral fruit branches of the raspberry to grow and develop.
