Caring for shrubs and trees includes one of the important elements - pruning. This is a rather difficult job that requires knowledge of agricultural technology of the corresponding tree species or berry bush.
Of course, when processing, they give the tree the desired shape, remove broken or diseased branches, but its main goal is not this. In trees and shrubs, if they are not cut in time, the yield decreases over time, the quality of the fruits deteriorates, the frequency of fruiting changes, and winter hardiness decreases.
This type of tree treatment is aimed at artificially stunting the growth of some branches and enhancing the growth of those that are necessary for the formation of the crown of the tree and subsequently increasing its yield.
The main pruning of fruit trees and berry bushes is carried out in early spring. But over the summer, many breeds intensively build up annual shoots, which do not always grow in the right direction, and some branches get sick or break off for various reasons.
Therefore, trees are pruned in the fall, when the leaf fall ends, and with itgrowing season.
It is especially useful to subject winter-hardy varieties of apples to this treatment if a very frosty winter is expected.
In autumn, fruit trees are thinned out and shortened shoots. Shrub care also involves pruning in the fall. They need autumn pruning even more than trees. It is carried out in order to improve the fruiting of berry bushes. By pruning, bushes are shaped, thinned and rejuvenated.
Pruning is the main element of currant care. This type of processing must be subjected to all its varieties.
This is especially necessary for blackcurrant. First, starting from the second year after planting, you need to cut out new shoots, leaving three to five of the strongest and he althiest of them. This must be done every autumn until the bush has 15–18 strong shoots of different ages. Usually the formation of a blackcurrant bush ends by the age of five. Then it remains in the spring to cut out obsolete shoots, which are easy to distinguish by the black color of the bark. Since blackcurrant branches are not prone to strong branching, it is a good idea to shorten them slightly. Caring for white and red currant bushes also consists in the formation of bushes for five to six years, in the removal of weak annual shoots and cutting out obsolete, diseased and extra branches. There comes a time when new shoots stop growing in aging currant bushes. Then they are subjected to a completely rejuvenating pruning. It consists in the fact that in the spring half of the oldshoots. Those shoots that had a good growth last year, and the youngest branches, are pinned to the ground. The following year, all remaining old branches are removed. Next, the rejuvenated currant bushes are subjected to regular pruning.
Thus, shrub care is a must to maintain good annual fruiting.
