Kiwi vine: when and how to prune

Kiwi vine: when to prune it?

JFMAMJJASOND

Do the winter prune in December–February, when the leaves have fallen and before the sap rises. Prune later, in March or April, and the kiwi bleeds heavily from the wounds.

The summer prune comes in July: you can then see which shoots carry fruit, and you shorten them. Remove long shoots without fruit at the same time.

The male plant bears no fruit and is pruned mainly in July, after flowering: that way it can first pollinate the female flowers.

What else to prune in those months? January · February · July · December

Kiwi vine: how to prune it?

1. Train the plant with one sturdy trunk up to the wires or pergola, and from there two arms in opposite directions. Fix the wires at 1.5–2 m high, as a mature plant laden with fruit is heavy.
2. Side shoots grow along these arms. The fruit appears on the new shoots that grow in spring from last year’s wood, usually at the first buds.
3. In winter, cut each side shoot that has fruited back to two or three buds beyond where the last fruit hung. Cut a side shoot that has already fruited for three years back close to the arm: a new one will grow there.
4. Leave enough young shoots every year, spread along the arms, and remove shoots that twist around each other or wind through the rest.
5. In July, shorten the fruiting shoots to 4–6 leaves beyond the last fruit, and remove long shoots that carry nothing.
6. On the male plant, cut back the shoots that have flowered in July and keep the young shoots: they will flower next year.

How much to cut, and how often?

• Two prunes every year: most of the work in winter, and shortening the summer shoots in July.
• Let a young kiwi mainly form a trunk and arms for the first two or three years; the first fruit only comes after 3–5 years.
• One male plant is enough for six to eight females nearby. There are also self-fertile varieties, such as ‘Jenny’, but they too crop better with a male nearby.

What does it mean for wildlife?

• A dense kiwi on a pergola or against a wall is a favourite nesting site for blackbirds, robins and wrens. The July summer prune falls in the nesting season (15 March–15 August): check carefully first, and leave the area around an active nest alone until the young have fledged.
• The December–February winter prune falls outside it: you won’t disturb any nesting birds then.
• The creamy-white flowers in May–June produce no nectar, only pollen, which honeybees and bumblebees are keen to collect. The more bees, the better the pollination and the bigger the kiwis.
• Prunings can go on a dead hedge. Don’t spray insecticide during flowering: no bees and bumblebees, no kiwis.

Common mistakes

• Pruning in spring, so the plant bleeds heavily from the wounds.
• Cutting out all the young wood in winter, so no new fruiting shoots appear.
• Removing the male plant or cutting it right back in winter, because it bears no fruit anyway.
• Letting the summer shoots grow on, so the plant becomes a tangle in which the fruit hangs in the shade.

Nearby: related pruning guides

• Hardy kiwi
• Variegated kiwi vine
• Grapevine
• Wisteria
• Fig tree

Similar to: Difference from hardy kiwi · Difference from grapevine

Plant profile: Kiwi vine · Pruning calendar and basic rules