Hello Alan

In article ,
Alan Johnson wrote:
Hi all,

silly question, I know, but is this a blackcurrant bush? Plant_1.jpg
shows a close up of the foliage and Plant_2 the whole bush (warning:
some may find the files large):

http://www.geotrans-online.de/Plant_1.jpg
http://www.geotrans-online.de/Plant_2.jpg

Assuming it is blackcurrant, what is the best way to prune? Assuming it
isn't, what is it? :-) We have bought a house with a large, rather
neglected garden. These bushes look as though they have not been pruned
for years. They are very large and dense. They are almost six feet high
at the upper tips. There are some orange spots on one or two parts; they
look like some kind of fungus. Does anybody know what they are and what
i should do?

Thanks in advance

In my view the best way to deal with blackcurrants is to have 3 bushes, and
cut one practically to the ground each year in sequence. You will get very
little fruit on the cut back bush, but the other 2 will make up for it. You
also get rid of all of the old wood.

With a collection of neglected bushes this is not a practical approach. I
would start by cutting about one third of the branches out of each bush
making the cuts quite low down. This will take out a lot of old wood, but
also sadly some younger wood, but with luck will generate some new branches
for the future.

The other question if they have been neglected is "Are they suffering badly
from Big Bud ?" If they are it wiuld probably be better to ditch the lot and
start again.

John

--
John Rye
Hadleigh IPSWICH England
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/jrye/index.html
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