Even the most well-groomed plantings of your favorite garden culture grow old one day, and the matter is not at all in the appearance of the bushes: the berries noticeably shrink, their quality leaves much to be desired, the yield drops noticeably. The first thought - “to uproot everything and plant young bushes” - is far from the best. This is the loss of favorite varieties, money for seedlings, time - until the “youth” begins to actively bear fruit. The best solution to this problem is to rejuvenate old black currant bushes.
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Why spend the rejuvenation of red and black currants
Currant not only quickly enters fructification, but also quickly grows old. Even with proper care the five-year bush should be rejuvenated at least in a planned manner.
Starting the annual pruning (the formation of currant bush) should be already in the year of planting. If you remember that the main crop of berries give two or three summer branches, it is quite clear that when pruning must be removed:
- all branches are older than this age (except for thickening, they do not give anything);
- tops and weak branches of zero order.
Proper care of black currant bushes ensures high yields for a maximum of seven years. Then, not only the yield is reduced, but the quality of the berries also deteriorates. They shrink and taste worse.
It is also possible to rejuvenate currants in the case of:
- severe defeat disease or pests;
- the bush has grown too much;
- many old thickening branches;
- the bush is initially incorrectly formed;
- he is over 6 years old and the harvest has fallen;
- the roots are damaged.
Such pruning is the best option in case if you like a variety very much and don’t want to lose it.
Black currant, like any garden shrub or tree, rejuvenating pruning gives resistance to various fungal and other diseases. Care after trimming the bushes becomes much easier.
As the ventilation and illumination of the green part of the bush improves, the properties of the variety return to their previous level.
When to cut - in the fall or spring?
Preferably pruning late autumn (after the leaves fall) or early in the spring before the buds swell, practically through the snow. It turns out that it will be necessary to rejuvenate black currants late in the fall.
Do not wait for the leaves to fall off completely. It is enough if at least half of them turn yellow. They can remain on the branches until it hits a hard frost.
When the soil warms up above about 5 degrees, active sap flow begins and the lesion spreads further. The branches for pruning are chosen as for the autumn, leaving a stump of healthy wood at 2 centimeters.
It is very easy to determine the condition of the wood.: dark areas indicate damage, they are cut to healthy light wood.
After spring pruning, nitrogen fertilizers are applied to the soil.
It is also necessary to observe in summer. the condition of planting currants:
- remove incorrectly growing "zero" shoots;
- get rid of broken branches;
- time to cut the diseased and affected branches.
Fundamental rules
Starting pruning, basic rules must be considered:
- spend it in dry weather;
- garden tools must be well-honed and disinfected;
- All pruning must be removed from the site and burned.
Therefore, these released three years it is necessary to use step-by-step rejuvenation, for example “in the Chinese way”:
- prikopat young escape;
- next year, transplant a young bush to a new place;
- old after harvesting need to be uprooted;
- the place of an old bush is disinfected, fertilized, it is possible to return a sapling to its place.
How to rejuvenate old shrubs
Preparation of tools
For pruning red and black currants will need:
- pruner;
- garden knife;
- small hacksaw.
The requirements for these tools are standard:
- blades should be well-honed (easy to work and less bush hurt);
- the cutting edge must be disinfected with at least a solution of potassium permanganate (especially when moving to another bush).
Step-by-step recommendations
First you need to decide how the situation is running: you need a simple regular autumn pruning with rejuvenation or you need to carry out a radical rejuvenation of the bush.
Be sure to cut:
- branches broken, directed into the bush or in the shadow, lying on the ground;
- lean (they must be noted in advance);
- weak gains of the current year.
To provoke their regrowth, you need to remove 2-3 quite viable, but old branches.
The growing "zero" branches will be stronger if regularly remove the tops on the lower parts of the branches left. Of these “nukes”, three (the strongest) are left for fruiting.
The final touch is a must trim the tips of the branches left (not “null”, but left for fruiting), to well-matured wood. This will increase growth and make the berries larger.
Practice shows that this way you can bring back to life even bushes aged 10-15 years. In this case, pruning is carried out really radically: the bush is cut off completely, you can leave the hemp in 2-3 centimeters (to cut off flush with the ground is very problematic).
This bush needs a strong feeding nitrogen fertilizers in the spring. It is necessary to choose 5-7 branches and in a year a full-fledged bush will grow that will last another five years.
Someone scheme planned pruning may seem too complicated.Understand where the branches are “nulls”, 2-3 year olds, and those that are even older and need to be removed - it's difficult for a beginner.
A very simple way to rejuvenate currant bushes (for novice gardeners) - each year 1/4 of the bush is removed (mentally divide the bush into 4 parts and remove one).
Branches older than 4 years in the bush with this original method of pruning can not be in principle. The bush simply does not have the opportunity to grow old.
Update shrub without errors
Currant is so plastic culture that it is almost impossible to damage it with pruning. It will only grow stronger. But errors are still possible.
First of all, it is not superfluous to repeat that garden tools need to be decontaminated, so as not to reduce all the work on rejuvenation to zero.
Young shoots left for replacement should not be shortened.. This will lead to unnecessary additional branching. The bush will be too thick, with all the ensuing consequences.
Scrub care after trimming
Restoration of the bush after the rejuvenating pruning is impossible without proper care for it in the subsequent period.
In a radically cut bush, the balance of forces between the root and the branches outweighs the side of the root system.
New shoots grow faster than usual. Of these, you must choose and leave a few (no more than five) of the strongest (the rest cut).
When restoring a trimmed bush for rejuvenation It is very important to remove weeds and apply nitrogen fertilizer to the soil. (best of all - to mulch the soil with humus).
Currants prefer watering infrequent (about three times a week), but plentiful. In the fall they are fertilized with complex fertilizers, and in spring - with nitrogen fertilizers.
The first year after such pruning is to restore the power of the bush, and the next harvest will delight.
Even a very old old bushwhich got from the previous owner of the dacha, can update and more than one year to feast on its berries.
Anti-aging pruning can produce not only a professional.
It is not necessary to uproot the old planting of black currant,when the bushes stopped pleasing the berries. Rejuvenation you can restore their yield for about 5 years.
And during this time, it is quite realistic to independently grow new young bushes of the varieties you like.
Pruning the running currant bush: