How to Prune Currants

Currant bushes are forgiving, but they crop far better with a quick prune each year. The trick is knowing which type you have — because blackcurrants and redcurrants are pruned in two completely different ways.

Two types, two methods

It all comes down to where the fruit forms.

• Blackcurrants fruit best on young wood made the previous summer. So you prune to keep a steady supply of fresh young branches coming up from the base.
• Redcurrants and whitecurrants fruit on short spurs along older, permanent branches. So you build a framework and keep it, just like a gooseberry.

Get the two muddled up and you'll cut off next year's crop. The good news is both jobs are simple once you know the rule. If you're new to these bushes, start with the main currants guide for planting and feeding, then come back here.

Blackcurrants — cut the old wood out

Blackcurrants make their best berries on branches that grew the previous summer. Old, dark, gnarled wood produces less and less. So the whole approach is renewal pruning: take some old wood out every year to make room for fresh growth.

For the first two winters after planting, do very little — just remove anything weak, damaged or lying on the soil. You're letting the bush bulk up.

From the third winter onwards, each year:

1. Cut about a third of the oldest branches right down to the base. These are the darkest, thickest, least productive ones — old wood is nearly black, while young wood is paler.
2. Remove any branches that are weak, broken, or flopping low near the ground.
3. Take out anything crossing through the middle so light and air can get in.

That's it. A healthy bush ends up with a rolling mix of one-, two- and three-year-old stems, with the oldest retired each winter. Don't be timid — blackcurrants respond to hard pruning with vigorous new shoots.

Red and whitecurrants — spur prune the framework

Redcurrants and whitecurrants are pruned the opposite way. They fruit on spurs — short, stubby side-shoots — that form on older wood, so you keep the main branches for years and simply tidy them.

The aim is an open goblet shape: a short leg (clear stem) of about 10–15cm, then 8–10 main branches fanning outward, with an open centre. This is exactly how you'd train a gooseberry bush, so if you grow both, the job is identical.

Each winter:

1. Shorten the previous summer's new growth on each main branch by about half, cutting to an outward-facing bud. This thickens up the framework and encourages spurs.
2. Cut back side-shoots coming off the main branches to one or two buds. These short spurs are what carry the fruit.
3. Remove anything dead, crossing, or growing into the congested centre.

Once the framework is established you're mostly just trimming back to the spur system each year — low effort, reliable crops.

When to prune

For both types, the main prune is a winter job, done when the bush is dormant and leafless — any time from leaf-fall in late autumn through to late February, before the buds break in early spring. A still, dry day on the gardening calendar is ideal.

Use clean, sharp secateurs and cut just above a healthy bud. Drop the old wood on the compost heap or shred it for leaf mould and compost — though burn anything that looks diseased rather than composting it.

What you'll need

You don't need much for either bush — a decent pair of secateurs and a bit of confidence.

Prune a little every winter and your bushes will reward you with years of heavy crops. For everything else — planting, feeding and harvesting — head back to the full currants guide or browse more fruit growing guides.