Pruning gooseberries and blackberries

I've been reading about pruning my gooseberry bushes and am now worried I should I have done a little more to them....

They were planted in Dec 2013 as 2 year old bare root plants. The RHS site says to prune back to 5 main stems in the spring after first planting - so should I have done this in spring of this year when they were a few months old or wait until spring 2015 when they would have had a 'season'? If I should have done it this year I guess I just go onto the bit where it says 'second year and beyond' where you are mean to to do a summer prune (oops) and a winter prune?

Arrgh so confusing......

Also, does anyone know what to do with wild blackberries? I am cultivating one that appeared amongst the weed jungle on the plot and it has grown lots this year. Should I do much to it or leave it to do its thing as in the 'wild'?

I will be training it along some wire tied between 2 nearby scaffolding poles I found concreted in  but rid t know if I needed to prune etc or just gently guide?

Quote from: RJR_38 on August 27, 2014, 17:47

I will be training it along some wire tied between 2 nearby scaffolding poles I found concreted in  but rid t know if I needed to prune etc or just gently guide?

The new unfruited growth is for next year's crop and what has fruit on now will die back. I usually cut these stems out once all the fruit is picked, cutting them right down to the ground. The new ones are then tied up on the wire framework on poles we have along the boundary.

I give them some sulphate of potash as a feed around February.

Hope that helps 

Very clear! Thanks