Pruning Soft Fruit Bushes

Pruning helps maintain the balance between wood and fruit by stimulating dormant buds on old wood to produce new growth, which becomes the next fruiting wood. Removing old, unproductive branches is vital for disease control, improving air circulation, and making fruit picking easier.

Tool Care and Selection

Keep all blades oiled, sharp, and clean. Sterilise cutting tools regularly using strong alcohol, such as surgical spirits, to prevent disease spread. Always use the right tool for the size and type of cut.

Snips – Ideal for small plants, taking cuttings, and deadheading. Deadheading (removing fading or dead flowers) keeps plants tidy and encourages further flowering.

Hand Pruners/Secateurs – Essential for most pruning tasks, including cutting back brambles and pruning fruit trees or bushes. Suitable for wood up to 2.5 cm in diameter.

Cut & Hold Pruners - These long handled (60cm) pruners are ideal for pruning where the angle is challenging, thanks to the rotating handle. It has the added feature that it holds on to the prunings for easy removal.

Gloves - Protect your hands from thorns, scratches, and accidental cuts.

Pruning Specific Fruit Bushes

Pruning Raspberries

Summer-fruiting varieties – In autumn, cut to ground level all canes that bore fruit during summer. Keep 6–8 of the strongest new (green, flexible) canes and remove the rest. Tie in the new canes 10 cm apart to allow good light and airflow.

Autumn-fruiting varieties – Prune in late winter (February). Cut all canes to ground level before new growth starts. These varieties fruit on new season growth.

Pruning Gooseberries

Gooseberries can quickly become congested and disease-prone if not pruned regularly. Aim to keep the centre open to light and air.

  1. Remove any dead, diseased, damaged, or dying branches — these often appear darker in colour.
  2. Cut out old wood at the base to encourage new fruiting stems. The best fruit grows on wood that is two to three years old.
  3. Remove inward-growing stems to create a goblet shape with an open centre.
  4. Shorten remaining branches and side shoots by a couple of buds to improve fruit quality and size.

Pruning Blackcurrants

Blackcurrants produce their best fruit on two-year-old stems. Pruning keeps bushes vigorous and prevents overcrowding.

  • Each year, remove older, dark-coloured stems at ground level.
  • Shorten one-year-old shoots to the next growing point to promote branching.

Pruning Red & White Currants

Prune red and white currants similarly to gooseberries, as they fruit on side-shoots from the previous year.

  • Create an upright, well-branched bush with fruiting spurs along the main stems.
  • In winter, shorten side-shoots to one bud.
  • Remove unproductive or crowded wood and trim shoot tips to encourage strong growth.

General Care of Fruit Bushes

  • When pruning, make each cut just above a bud and angle it away to shed water. This prevents rot. Avoid cutting too close or leaving long stubs, which can cause dieback or infection.
  • Apply a general NPK fertiliser in spring, then mulch around the base to conserve moisture and suppress weeds.
  • Water regularly in dry weather, especially during fruit set and development, but avoid overwatering. Apply water at ground level to reduce the risk of fungal disease.
  • Protect crops from birds with netting. Bullfinches are particularly fond of blackcurrant buds, so net early if necessary.

Apple Trees

Apple trees should be pruned in late winter.  Avoid pruning in the autumn since this stimulates new growth at the same time the tree should be getting ready for winter. The new growth may not have a chance to harden off before cold temperatures and frost hit, which may lead to cold damage on the tree.