How to prune a flowering currant?

Flowering currant (Ribes or false blackcurrant) offers a beautiful spring flowering, unlike redcurrant or blackcurrant, which are prized for their fruit. This small ornamental bush has a charming, compact, rounded habit and bears deciduous leaves that give off a cassis scent when crushed. Flowers appear between March and May depending on variety and come in colours ranging from white to bright red, via pink. Easy to maintain, flowering currant can be planted in a border, used in a hedge or grown in a pot. Its flowering shoots lend a rustic air to garden and are most attractive in bouquets. To obtain a good display of flowers, you can prune this bush. Discover our tutorial to learn how to prune flowering currant.

Why prune?

Pruning flowering currant is not essential, but you can prune it to rebalance bush silhouette, remove dead branches, open up bush or change habit if it is a little too sparse or bare.
It is not necessary to prune flowering currant every year. Prune bush only if you are in one or more of following situations.

When to prune?

Pruning of flowering currant is carried out just after flowering, i.e. in April or May depending on variety.
Do not wait too long to prune, because buds that will flower the following year appear from summer of previous year. If you wait too long, you risk removing these buds and losing next year’s flowering.
If you use flowering currant in a hedge, we recommend not pruning hedges between 15 March and 31 July to favour biodiversity and avoid disturbing birds during nesting season.

How to prune a flowering currant?

Technique

Use a pruning shear, a shear or a hedge trimmer if you have a hedge of flowering currants. Disinfect tools with alcohol beforehand to avoid spreading disease and sharpen them if necessary.
Shorten by a few centimetres shoots that have flowered, cutting on the slant 0.5 cm above young branchings or buds.

Remove dead, weakened or crossing branches or branches growing towards centre of bush

For maintenance pruning:

Each year, on young bushes, cut shoots and branches that are too weak.
On older bushes, remove dead wood.

For rejuvenation pruning:

On a bush more than three years old that is becoming bare, cut 1/3 of shoots to encourage growth of new young stems. This pruning can be done every two years.
You can also carry out heavier pruning every 4–5 years to rejuvenate flowering currant and encourage growth of new shoots. Cut oldest shoots to 50 cm above ground.