[nafex] Spring pruning: currants, apple, grape

[Ginda Fisher <ginda@concentric.net>]

Thanks for all the advice.  I've pruned my sorry little jonathan apple
tree back to little more than it was when I bought it a year ago (plus a
couple of side branches) and I gather all I have to do with my canadice
grape this year (its third) is remove all but the top 4 buds when they
start to swell.

I do have a question about currants.  In the past, all I've done has
been to remove anything that doesn't leaf out in the spring, shortly
after I can see what _did_ leaf out.  That seems to work fine for the
reds.  But this year my crandall currants are looking awfully scraggly. 
It may be the first time I've had them in the same place, and in the
sun, for three years.  The two-year-old branches mostly flopped down
last year from the weight of the berries, and now have several short
side branches and numerous "spurs".  If I just leave them alone, and
they fruit, the fruit will drag on the ground (and be eaten by
chipmunks).  Should I try to tie them up?  Should I trim them back at
all?  Entirely?

Thanks,
Ginda Fisher
eastern Mass, zone 6

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