The secret to a summer harvest lies in your winter pruning
Growing blackcurrants, gooseberries, and redcurrants offers a rewarding way to enjoy homegrown fruit. While these shrubs are remarkably robust, the difference between a mediocre yield and a bountiful summer harvest often depends on how you handle them during their dormant season.
Blackcurrants are particularly easy to cultivate, typically growing into shrubs about 1.5m tall and wide with 6 to 10 upright stems. While they can thrive in containers for a few years, they generally perform better in the ground. For those with limited space, standard-trained varieties on a single tall stem offer a clever way to save room. These plants prefer sunny locations and well-drained, moisture-retentive soil, though they can tolerate light shade.
When selecting varieties, modern cultivars like ‘Ben Connan’, ‘Ben Hope’, and ‘Big Ben’ provide significant advantages. These newer selections often feature larger fruit and have been bred to flower later, which protects them from frost damage in colder climates. A major benefit of these modern types is that the fruit in a cluster tends to ripen simultaneously, making harvesting much less fiddly than older varieties where berries ripen individually. For a continuous supply, gardeners should choose a mix of early and late-season varieties.
Success starts with the right planting technique. Plants are commonly sold as two-year-olds, either in pots or as bare roots. Bare root options are often more economical but are typically only available from specialists between October and March. To ensure a strong start, you can enrich the planting hole with organic matter like well-rotted manure if your soil is poor. To protect your hard work from birds, consider installing a fruit cage. Finally, remember that annual pruning in the winter is essential to maintain high crop levels for years to come.
Source: How to grow gooseberry, blackcurrant & redcurrant plants | RHS
