Topic: Prunning Gooseberries

[themauler]

Can anyone tell me how and when I should prune/cut back my gooseberry bush. Is it too late now?
I got my allotment last year in late spring which already had a bush. I didn't do anything last year and nothing up to now. Am I too late and if not, how should I do it. Any video links would also be good.

[antipodes]

Just leave it, unless it's really really dense. I only just cut a few branches off in winter as it was getting a little congested but they fruit off old wood so don't actually need cutting back. At least that's my experience anyway. 
The tricky thing is that they scratch you to b*ggery when you harvest the berries! So best to try to just have branches that grow outwards from the centre. If the branches are too squashed up in the middle you will have a heck of a time picking. That is the logic behind pruning goosegogs.

[JENIAN]

 I have 6 bush type and I am in the process of training 9 new plants, I grew from cuttings, to be 'standards'.  The standards are 1mtr tall now and are trained up stout 1.5'' sq. ash posts.  You need to prune the centres out of your bush and any inward growing branches.  Doing this will give more air to the plant so helping to preventing mildew.  If you see signs of the sawfly caterpillar then spray.  Gooseberries are a wonderful fruit both for cooking and eating raw (I prefer the latter) and easy to propogate, simply cut off part of a branch and stick it in the ground and water.  For the diabetics out there, surprisingly, they are full of sugar, so watch it :-\

Hope this helps,

Ian ;) 

[gazza1960]

Hi we transplanted 3 Green and 2 red Gooseberry bushes 2 seasons ago and yes,the foliage is dense and apart from some light trimming we have had successful crops each year since they went in without having to
cut the bushes back to severely.

I was intrigued with your comment Ian as being a type 2 myself I "like most Diabetics" only eat any fruits in moderation due to natural sugars,but I had a quick scour around and found this link........

http://www.natural-homeremedies.org/blog/nutrition-and-health-benefits-of-gooseberry/

it is copyright so I could not paste the reference to the "advantages " to Diabetics that this fruit gives but it made for interesting reading,so I thank you for bringing it to my attention Ian.... ;)

just scroll down till you reach the paragraph.

cheers


Gazza

[chriscross1966]

I would treat that site with some caution, too much happy-clappy, sod all real science (like peer-reviewed references would be nice)..... certainly I wouldn't trust the health of a diabetic on their advice.

[JENIAN]

Hi we transplanted 3 Green and 2 red Gooseberry bushes 2 seasons ago and yes,the foliage is dense and apart from some light trimming we have had successful crops each year since they went in without having to
cut the bushes back to severely.

I was intrigued with your comment Ian as being a type 2 myself I "like most Diabetics" only eat any fruits in moderation due to natural sugars,but I had a quick scour around and found this link........

http://www.natural-homeremedies.org/blog/nutrition-and-health-benefits-of-gooseberry/

it is copyright so I could not paste the reference to the "advantages " to Diabetics that this fruit gives but it made for interesting reading,so I thank you for bringing it to my attention Ian.... ;)

just scroll down till you reach the paragraph.

cheers


Gazza

That makes very interesting reading.  Thanks Gazza.
Ian

[themauler]

Thanks for all the advice, I'll just thin it out a bit now and look again after fruiting

[chriscross1966]

Try to keep the crowns open if you can, a sort of goblet shape with a hollow centre is supposed to be good, it allows plenty of air circulation which is supposed to help against gooseberry mildew..... IT also make sit easy to drop the more thorny ones.... looking forward to my harvest this year as one of my plants just managed a few last year (it was a second year plant that had been in a pot for most of that, but it flowered almost as soon as I planted it out then had some fruit a bit late)... they were delicious

[gaz2000]

Ive never prunned mine in the four years of having them,just water in some bfb each spring

[antipodes]

I do mulch mine and give them some manure over winter - it's more because it is so hard to weed around them so keeping the weeds off when the plants are just bare branches is much easier than fighting them when it is in full leaf and flower.

[strawberry1]

I gave mine a drastic prune this winter, they had been in the ground a year and are thorny invicta. I have given them 6-8 inch legs and taken out the branches going in towards the centre and those which were going to grow downwards. They are full of buds now and I won`t get any fruit this year but I will eventually get a goblet shape.