"John Rye" wrote in message
...
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.

I planted a couple of B/C bushes, probably 15 years ago along with 2
redcurrant. I get decent crops of the red but my best yield of the black
has been 3 per bush - yes, that's 3 berries per bush. There are always
masses of flowers but they don't set. Out of frustration, I cut them down 2
years ago and never got around to digging out the roots so last year the
regrown bush produced nothing! I have taked to horticulturalists who are
puzzled so now I buy my blackcurrants from a local farm.

BTW, my parents live in Capel St. Mary and I nearly always find some excuse
to visit Partridge's when I'm over for a visit.
Graham