How to plant a blackcurrant bush

Step 1

Choose an open and sunny site. Fork over a wide area of ground, then dig a hole deep enough to accommodate the roots of your fruit bush.

Step 2

Tip plenty of garden compost into the hole and fork it deep into the soil.

Step 3

Sprinkle a handful of fertiliser in the hole and fork it into the soil.

Step 4

Spread the roots of the blackcurrant bush out evenly across the hole area, teasing them out carefully.

Step 5

Fill in around the roots with soil, firming it down with your foot as you go, to remove any air pockets.

Step 6

Water the plant in well, soaking the area to help settle the soil down around the plant's roots.

Step 7

Prune all the shoots right back to encourage new growth from below soil level.

Step 8

By summer the bush will have formed plenty of new shoots that will carry fruit the following summer.

Mail order fruit nurseries have a great range of bare-root plants in autumn and winter.