We Shape The Currants With A Tree

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

A couple of years ago I was visiting friends and a currant caught my attention. At first doubts prevailed, like the leaves like currants and the berries are hanging, but the currant is a bush, and here is such a small well-groomed tree. I could not stand it, asked my friends. It turned out, yes, currants. Just unusually shaped. I was interested in this method, I also wanted to grow a couple of "currant trees"

We prepare and plant cuttings

As you know, currant usually grows as a shrub, has many shoots with roots emerging from a common root. Thus, a "branched bush" is obtained, the shoots of which are fighting with each other for food. The "tree" system excludes such a struggle: currants formed in this way have a powerful root system with one trunk and twigs.

Cuttings for "currant trees" are harvested in early spring. We want the tops of the branches, straight, without branches. That is, such straight twigs. When harvesting cuttings, be sure to pay attention to the number and location of buds: there should be at least 6 of them, since one third will "go" underground, and two thirds (these are four buds) will remain on the surface. Please note that the aerial buds are on all sides of the cutting, then the branches will form evenly, and not on one side.

We plant cuttings in the soil immediately after harvesting. The soil must be well loosened. Carefully plunge the stalk into the ground by one third, carefully crush the ground around. Then water abundantly. During the "engraftment" of the cuttings, it is very important to carefully monitor the moisture content of the soil, it should not dry out! You can water constantly, you can carry out a "drip" irrigation system, or you can simply mulch - you choose.

Care

In the first year, after the cuttings take root, the first branches should appear on your tree by autumn, at least three of the buds remaining on the surface. If by the period of autumn leaf fall, not all buds have produced twigs and twigs of less than three pieces, then the bush is discarded. Do not feel sorry for him, there will still be little sense from him. The remaining seedlings will winter without shelter, since the currant is a frost-hardy plant and should easily endure even the most severe frosts and survive the most severe winters.

In the spring, one-year-old "trees" need to be put in order and formed by cutting off the existing branches, leaving 3-4 buds on each. It is from these buds that we will grow full-fledged fruiting branches.

After pruning, the seedlings can be transplanted into their permanent place without burying the trunk into the ground! Deep planting can lead to a decrease in future yield. The distance between neighboring "trees" should not be less than two meters, as over time the plants will grow and take up free space. After transplanting, we trample the soil well (since currant roots do not like excess air very much!), And water the plant. By the fall, the seedlings should have formed a trunk and main branches. A young "tree" hibernates without shelter. And in the third year it gives the first, not yet very large harvest.

By their fourth birthday, "currant trees" should become quite tall, up to one and a half meters high, have a fairly powerful trunk and well-developed branches.

In the period from the fifth to the eighth year, you will harvest the maximum possible yield, reaching 8-9 kilograms of berries from one tree. Then the yield will begin to decline gradually. And in the tenth or eleventh year, you need to attend to the rooting of new cuttings, then to replace the "exhausted" trees.

By the way, such unusual trees can be grown not only for harvesting, but also as a decorative decoration for your site.