BLUEBERRIES

Pruning of blueberries for the first three growing seasons consists mainly of removing low spreading branches and dead or broken branches.  As the bushes start to mature, regular annual pruning will become necessary which may be done anytime from leaf fall until spring growth begins.  After about 5 years, canes begin to loose their vigor.  At the dormant pruning, the older canes should be removed to be replaced by stronger more vigorous new growth.  The number of fruiting canes should be kept to around six to eight.

RASPBERRIES

Canes of bramble fruits are biennial in nature; the crowns are perennial. New shoots grow from buds at the crown each year. Late in the summer, the new canes develop lateral branches with fruit buds on them. Early in the second season, fruit-bearing shoots grow from these buds. After fruiting, the old canes die, and new shoots spring up from the crowns. These fruiting canes may be removed anytime after harvest and should be cut off close to the base of the plant, removed from the planting, and destroyed.

The dormant pruning is delayed until danger of severe cold is past and accomplished before the buds begin to swell. It consists of the removal of all dead, weak, and damaged canes, and the selection and pruning of the fruiting canes for the coming season. Where possible, fruiting canes 1/2 inch or more in diameter are selected. Shorten the height of the tallest canes to 4-5'. If pruned in this manner they will not normally need trellising. Thin each plant until 3 to 5 canes per linear foot remain. If the plants are grown in hedgerows, keep the width of the rows to 18 inches or less, and remove all shoots outside the row areas. Thin the canes within the hedgerows to 6 to 8 inches apart, saving the best canes.

Everbearing varieties such as Heritage, Kiwigold and Goldie will have two crops. The largest is borne in the fall on the tips of the canes which grew throughout the summer. A second crop is then carried lower on those same canes early the next summer. To maintain two crops the planting is pruned as described above. Most ever-bearers will produce an even better fall crop if not allowed to fruit in the summer. After the canes have dropped all their leaves in the fall, cut canes off as close to soil surface as possible. The new, strong suckers which grow again that summer will bear one abundant crop in the fall.

Purple and black raspberries such as Royalty and Jewel need to be summer topped, in addition to their dormant pruning which is done in the same manner as described above for red raspberries. When the shoots reach a height between 24 and 30 inches, the top 3 to 4 inches should be removed with shears or by pinching off with your fingers. This may need to be done several times as new shoots develop. Summer topping encourages the development of strong fruiting lateral growth and produces stronger, sturdier plants which are better able to support their crops.

GRAPES

To be most productive, grapes should be pruned and trained to a definite system.  Two of the most popular, vertical trellis and overhead arbor, are both satisfactory for home planting if kept well pruned.

Vertical trellis which is the single trunk, four-arm Kniffin system is the most popular for commercial growing.  Posts should be set 15 to 20 feet apart and approximately 5 foot high.  Two wires are stretched between the posts, the lower at about 2 1/2 feet and the other at the top of the posts.  The vine is trained to a single trunk with four semi-permanent arms, one arm trained in each direction on both lower and upper wires.  Each arm is cut back to 6 to 10 inches in length.

During the dormant pruning, one cane is saved from summer growth near the base of each arm.  This cane is cut back to about 10 buds which will produce the fruit in the coming season.  A renewal spur is selected from another cane from each arm near the trunk.  This should grow vigorously and will be the new fruiting cane for the next season.

The same training and pruning may be used for the arbor system.  The only difference is that the wires are all placed overhead and parallel with each other.  Posts are usually about 6 to 7 feet above ground.

Pruning may be done anytime after the vines have gone dormant.  If there is any danger of winter injury, pruning should be delayed until early spring.

GOOSEBERRIES

Hedgerow cultivation is the most popular method used by both commercial growers and homeowners.  At time  of planting cut back to the healthiest  single stem with 3 to 4 buds.  Each year thereafter, prune off all but four of the healthiest new shoots.  Head back the remaining shoots 1/4 to 1/2 of previous year's growth.