Redcurrant

Sun

Full sun to partial shade; give afternoon shade in warmer districts. Deep shade reduces fruiting.

Water

Keep the root zone evenly moist, especially during flowering and fruit swelling; avoid waterlogged soil.

Soil

Fertile, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil, ideally around pH 6.0-7.0.

Height

3-5 ft (0.9-1.5 m)

Spread

3-5 ft (0.9-1.5 m)

Flowers

Small, greenish-yellow flowers in hanging clusters in spring.

Foliage

Green, three- to five-lobed leaves with toothed edges; leaves fall in autumn.

Growth

Moderate

Care needed

Medium

• Pollinators
• Cold hardy
• Wildlife
• Low allergen
• Edible

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Easy

Toughness

Fairly tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   1.6 ft (0.5 m)

2. After 1 year

   2.1 ft (0.64 m)

3. After 2 years

   2.6 ft (0.78 m)

4. After 3 years

   3 ft (0.92 m)

5. After 5 years

   4 ft (1.2 m)

   full size

About 5 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Safe

Native to

the UK

Growth rate

Moderate

• Water deeply during dry spells, particularly while berries are developing.
• Apply a 2-3 in (5-8 cm) layer of compost or organic mulch in spring, keeping it clear of the stems.
• Feed lightly with a balanced fertilizer in early spring if growth is weak; avoid heavy nitrogen feeding.
• Keep grass and weeds away from the shallow roots; weed by hand rather than hoeing deeply.
• Support cordon-trained plants on wires and protect ripening fruit with taut, wildlife-safe netting.
• Before buying in the United States, check state restrictions on Ribes because of white pine blister rust.

Pruning. In winter, remove dead, damaged and crossing branches, then cut out up to a quarter of the oldest stems at ground level to maintain an open bush. Retain productive two- and three-year-old wood and shorten established side shoots to one to three buds.

Pick in early to midsummer when berries are fully red, translucent and juicy; taste a few because they remain naturally tart when ripe. Snip off whole strings rather than pulling individual berries, then strip them from their stalks indoors. Expect a first worthwhile crop about 2-3 years after planting.

Autumn

Plant dormant bushes once leaves have fallen, provided the ground is workable; water thoroughly.

Winter

Prune established bushes and take hardwood cuttings from healthy plants.

Early spring

Apply compost or mulch and feed lightly if needed.

Spring

Check leaf undersides for sawfly larvae and aphids; protect open flowers if a hard frost is forecast.

Early summer

Water during dry weather and fit wildlife-safe netting before berries colour.

Midsummer

Harvest ripe strings of berries and remove netting promptly after picking.

• Plant in rows beside paths in a kitchen garden for easy picking.
• Train as cordons against wires or a fence to fit fruit into a narrow space.
• Mix with gooseberries and culinary herbs in an edible border.
• Use as a loose, productive boundary around a vegetable plot, allowing access on both sides.

Garden styles it suits: Potager (kitchen garden), Cottage garden, Edible landscape, Homestead, Food forest and English country.

Plant it with: Gooseberry, Chives, Parsley, Calendula and Alpine strawberry.

Wildlife: Spring flowers provide nectar and pollen for bees and other insects. Birds eat the berries, and the branches offer cover for small garden wildlife.

• Currant sawfly: larvae can strip leaves quickly; inspect bushes from spring onward and hand-pick larvae while infestations are small.
• Currant blister aphid: raised red blisters appear on leaves; established bushes usually tolerate light damage, so encourage predators and avoid unnecessary spraying.
• Powdery mildew: white fungal growth affects leaves or shoots; improve airflow, avoid excessive nitrogen and remove badly affected shoot tips.
• Bird damage: birds take berries as they ripen; use a fruit cage or taut wildlife-safe netting, checking it daily.

Redcurrant is not known to be toxic to people, cats, dogs or horses. The ripe berries are edible; large quantities may cause digestive upset. Unlike dried 'currants' made from grapes, these berries are true Ribes fruit.

• Blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum)

  Crushed blackcurrant leaves have a strong, distinctive currant smell, and ripe berries are black rather than translucent red.

• Gooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa)

  Usually has conspicuous spines and larger berries borne singly or in small groups, rather than long hanging strings.

The botanical epithet rubrum means 'red' in Latin and refers to the fruit.

Propagation. Take pencil-thick hardwood cuttings from healthy one-year-old shoots after leaf fall and insert them into well-drained soil with a few buds above the surface. Low branches can also be layered; named cultivars should be propagated vegetatively to retain their characteristics.

Accepted botanical name

Ribes rubrum

In the US and Canada

Introduced in Canada and the lower 48 states.

Native range

Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands and Spain.

Measured

Soil pH 6.5 to 7. Average height 126 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.