North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>]

I do different stuff for different plants.  I've had better luck with fall 
planting of currants (bare root) but brambles seem to like spring planting, 
for instance.  I don't know anything about hazelnuts or juneberries.  
Actually, brambles are pretty easy to transplant, so long as you don't let 
the roots dry up or leave them exposed to direct sunlight.

Currants break dormancy very early, and slow down by mid-summer, which may be 
why they are so easy to move in the fall.  If you need to move them in the 
spring I would take as large a soil ball as I could and try not to disturb 
the roots too much.  

I left some old wood on my brambles when I transplanted some locally in the 
fall, and I got a little bit of fruit the following year.  I don't know if 
they would have established faster if I had chopped them off, but I got 100% 
take, and they did fine.  

There are mixed opinions as to pruning the tops.  Some say it puts less 
stress on the damaged roots, others say that more leaf matter gives the plant 
more energy to re-grow its roots.  I talked to a few arborists about this 
when one of my trees had its roots damaged by a neighbor.  For brambles, it 
seems easy to remove most or all of the old growth, and let the new growth 
feed the roots.  For currants, I'm less sure.  It's important not to let them 
dry up, of course, so if you won't be able to irrigate over the summer 
perhaps it's best to prune.

I'd selectively remove branches, mostly because I wouldn't want to deal with 
a decapitated shrub for the next several years.  I doubt it matters much to 
the survival of the bush, though.

all the best,
Ginda
easterm MA, zone 6
crocuses today!


On Mar 16, 2010, at 2:04 PM, Sherlock Terry wrote:

> The ground is almost thawed here in Northern VT and I've been thinking
> about moving around some 2 and 3 year old plants (not in nursery beds)
> while they are dormant. I remember reading somewhere that brambles
> should be cut back to a couple of inches above the soil level when
> transplanted (to stimulate new root growth?). Are there any similar
> pruning rules (stem or root) for other fruiting plants, specifically
> hazelnuts, black currants, and juneberries? Aside from making sure the
> roots don't dry out, is it advantageous to keep as much soil on the on
> the roots as possible rather than treating the plants like bare roots?
> I was also wondering if I should pick off flowers the first year after
> transplanting?
> 
> As I am writing this I'm thinking that maybe the same rules would
> apply when creating new plants from suckers?
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> -Sherlock