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Old 26-09-2006, 11:58 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening
cliff_the_gardener cliff_the_gardener is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 142
Default Pruning - soft fruits and figs

Katie,
What a cosmopolitan fig you have. Figs are hardy down to -15°C so I
don't think that is your problem. The south facing wall will help
retain heat. Is it growing in a pot or has it been dug up each time?
Also how are you training it - as a tree, a T or as a fan?

As for pruning the soft fruit.
Autumn raspberries are pruned after fruiting. Basically you cut out
all the growth down to the ground, so you are left with stumps, and
new shoots will emerge in spring and fruit in the autumn. Any mulch
around the roots should be removed and put elsewhere in the garden. I
have found that doing this seems to reduce harbourage of over wintering
raspberry pests. The same also found on gooseberries too - but taking
a little topsoil too. Reduced the instance of gooseberry sawfly.

Pruning the blackcurrants. Ideally you are looking for a stool bush -
that is a bush of multistems coming up from the soil rather than lots
of stems off a single leg. If you have this then you can prune from
the woods third year, removing about 1/3rd of the old wood from groound
level. This is done in the autumn, although some do this as summer
pruning after picking.
Pruning the gooseberries is dependant on how the plant is trained -
bush or cordon. As fruit comes on spurs on older wood the aim is to
keep air circulation in a bush. Unless a branch is being trained for
branch formation, new seasons growth is cut back to 5 leaves in summer
(which in winter are reduced to 3 leaf buds). The books encourage the
growing of Gooseberries on a leg - the first branches 4-6 inches off
the ground, with 6-6 main stems. So any new growth appreaing below
this is removed and if there are too many main branches, reduce them.
The key is air movement through the bush which will reduce instances of
mildew.
A link - http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0600/cane_bush.asp

Regards
Clifford
Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorkshire