Pruning is for many the biggest hurdle in the berry garden, yet it is simpler than it looks. You only need to know which berry is due when, because the right time differs clearly from type to type. Whoever reaches for the secateurs at the wrong moment cuts away, in the worst case, next year's harvest.
This article is your pruning plan for the whole berry garden, sorted by berry type and season. As a guiding rule above all: a berry bush should be light and airy, so that sun and wind get in.
Winter or summer? The timing decides
The berries divide roughly into two camps. The berry bushes like currant and gooseberry are pruned in winter, in the rest between leaf fall and budding. You can then see the bare framework well and recognise what must go.
The cane berries like raspberry and blackberry, by contrast, are pruned around the harvest. Their canes live only two years: in the first they grow, in the second they bear and then die off. These spent canes come out right after the harvest.
The pruning plan by berry type
- Currant and gooseberry: winter
In winter cut out the oldest, dark shoots at the base and leave at most eight to twelve young leading shoots. That keeps the bush light and it bears best on young wood.
- Summer raspberry: after harvest
Right after harvest in July remove the spent canes at the base. Tie in the young, green canes for next year, keep about ten strong ones per metre.
- Autumn raspberry: radical in winter
Autumn-bearing raspberries make it easy: in late winter cut all canes right down to the ground. They bear on the new shoot of the same year.
- Blackberry: after harvest
Like the summer raspberry. Spent canes out, young ones tied in. Easiest with the two-sides rule on the trellis.
The special cases
Not every berry fits the simple scheme. The strawberry is no bush: after harvest you cut away old, diseased foliage and leave the heart standing, so that fresh leaves form. The blueberry needs almost no pruning for years. Only on the older bush do you remove the oldest, bare shoots at the base in winter, to rejuvenate it.
Bushes in winter, cane berries after harvest. And always: out must go what is old, dense, diseased or grows inwards.
The core rule for pruning berries
Frequently asked questions
When do you prune currants and gooseberries?
In winter, in the rest period between leaf fall and budding. Then you can see the bare framework well. Cut out the oldest, dark shoots at the base and leave eight to twelve young leading shoots, that keeps the bush light and productive.
When do you prune raspberries?
That depends on the type. Summer raspberries are pruned right after harvest in July: spent canes out, young ones tied in. Autumn raspberries are cut right down to the ground in late winter, because they bear on the new shoot of the same year.
What is the difference between bush and cane berries when pruning?
Berry bushes like currant and gooseberry are pruned in winter on the bare bush. Cane berries like raspberry and blackberry are pruned around the harvest, because their canes live only two years and die off after bearing.
Do I have to prune blueberries?
Hardly for years. Young blueberries you let grow. Only on the older bush do you remove the oldest, bare shoots at the base in winter, to rejuvenate it and encourage the supply of young, productive shoots.
What do I do if I have missed the right pruning time?
No drama. Stick to the rule of thumb and remove what is old, dead, diseased, too dense or grows inwards. An airy bush almost always bears well. You then hit the exact time again next year.
