Finish pruning soft fruit bushes (blackcurrants, redcurrants and gooseberries) to promote new growth, which will carry the most fruit. Remove a third of the oldest stems, cutting back to ground level, and shorten the new growth from this years leading stems, by half. Remove any dead or diseased wood and open up the centre of the bush to allow good air circulation to will help prevent spread of disease.
Soft fruit bushes should be pruned to maintain an open bowl shape allowing light and air to reach all branches, remove any weak or crossing branches. Cut back last seasons’ autumn fruiting raspberry canes and tie in new stems which will produce this years’ fruit.
Most soft fruit can also be trained and grown very successfully as a fan or espalier against a warm south facing wall. Erect training wires on walls and fences before planting it is so much easier to do at this stage. When planting remember that the soil at the base of a wall is often very dry, so plant at least 12 inches out. Angle the plant towards the wall and tie in to the wires as it grows. Keep wall trained plants well watered.
If you like the idea of growing soft fruit in this way try a pot grown Long Cane Blackberry Loch Tay which has already been grown on and shaped by our expert nurserymen to form a multi-stemmed, semi-mature plant, just tie in the stems to a support and in its first full season, it will produce a much heavier crop of fruit than a regular pot grown product. A regular Blackberry plant will, of course, grow on to reach the same size as the long cane plant, but why not save yourself the wait and start enjoying delicious blackberries sooner rather than later? Loch Tay has the added advantage of being thornless too meaning easier picking and no scratches!
