The time has come around again when the books and magazines say to prune your gooseberry bushes.
However i have foung the instructoins given in such publications a little confusing and off putting and have tended to ignore the job. But now it needs doing, so i seek some help and guidance.
the plants are proper bushes (not cordons,) and have the stems arising from the ground without a 'leg'. the plants are quite mature, having been in the garden for several years. I dont want to train them in any way just tidy them up and get a good crop.
Any help would be apreciated. :)
Thank you.
Hi Richard-just cut out the oldest wood to keep the habit `open`-if you have neglected the bushes for a while then take out a third each year until you have got on top of it.
Like so many of these things it`s not so easy to describe in words.
Stephan
Hi Richard, I read the books and looked at the plants and it was a bit daunting but the main thing to bear in mind is to try to aim for a goblet shape if possible to keep the bush open in the middle to let air circulate around the plant and reduce the threat of disease. I did this but be warned had a very reduced crop that year (I started of with any dead wood then carried on aiming for the goblet shape, I may have pruned the wood out that cropped this year). The plants do look alot better now 2nd year after.
Many thanks to Stephan and 'piglet'. This has clarified several points for me.
The one thing that bothers me is affecting the crop. One of the plants is a very good croppre buthas lots of old wood in it. It needs to come out i think, but i do worry it will affect the crop.
The gooseberries are important to us. My mother makes excellent chutney out of them, so the bigger the crop the more chutney we get!