Interactive lesson

Currants, gooseberries, aronia and blueberries, step by step

Interactive lesson: four bushes that crop for decades — planting, pruning, an acid bed for blueberries, netting and picking.

Free sample Chapters 1 and 2 (8 steps) are free. The full lesson comes with the Currants, gooseberries, aronia and blueberries module. Already bought? Unlock

This lesson is general guidance, not professional training. Local regulations and expert advice always take precedence. Read our disclaimer.

The whole lesson as text

1. Four bushes

Currants, gooseberries, aronia and blueberries crop for decades with little fuss.

Currants and gooseberries — Black, red and white currants and gooseberries give roughly 3–5 kg (7–11 lb) per mature bush. They grow in sun or partial shade.
Blueberries need acid — Blueberries need a soil pH of 4.5–5.5. In soil above pH 5.5 they cannot take up iron and die within two or three years.
The right blueberry — The wild bilberry of moors and woods does not succeed in a garden. In a nursery, buy the highbush blueberry, a bush 1.5–2 m (5–6½ ft) tall.
Two blueberry varieties — Blueberries crop better and bigger with a second variety that flowers at the same time, e.g. Duke and Bluecrop. Currants, gooseberries and aronia are self-fertile.

Why: Currants and gooseberries crop from the second year and are in full crop by the fourth. Aronia has almost no diseases. The blueberry is the most demanding: without acid soil it won't grow, however much you feed and water it.

Currants and gooseberries like cool, moist roots: in hot summers (the southern and central US) plant them where they get afternoon shade; in the UK and Ireland full sun suits them.
Birds love all four fruits, so have your netting ready before they ripen.

2. Planting currants and gooseberries

Currants, gooseberries and aronia are planted in autumn, from late October to December.

Hole 40 × 40 cm — Dig a hole 40 × 40 cm, 35–40 cm deep. Container plants can also go in in spring, with watering.
Compost in the bottom — Put 10–15 L of mature compost in the bottom, mixed with soil.
Blackcurrants deeper — Plant blackcurrants 5–10 cm deeper than in the nursery, so they send shoots from the base.
Water and cut back — Backfill, firm and water with 10 L. Cut all stems back to 3–4 buds above the ground.

Why: Currants break bud very early in spring, so spring planting often comes too late. Planted deeper, they send new shoots from the base, and stems cut back hard give 4–6 strong shoots, the framework of the bush.

Spacing: currants and gooseberries 1.2–1.5 m (4–5 ft) apart in the row, 2–2.5 m between rows.
Plant gooseberries, red currants and aronia at the same depth as in the nursery; cut gooseberries and red currants back by half, aronia by a third.