How to grow them
Plant in winter. Prune in winter to an open, goblet shape so that air can move through and you can reach the fruit past the thorns.
Fruit and perennials
Gooseberries
The first fruit of the summer, and happy in a shadier corner.
- Buy as
- Bare-root or potted bushes
- Space
- 135cm between plants, 150cm between rows
- Position
- Sun or light shade
- Rotation
- Permanent bed
- Difficulty
- Easy
The year
Plant
Harvest
When to pick
Thin the fruit in late May and use those for cooking. Leave the rest to ripen and sweeten in July.
What goes wrong
Problems, and what to do
Gooseberry sawfly
Caterpillars strip the leaves in days, from April. Check the middle of the bush and pick them off.
Mildew
A white coating on shoots and fruit. Prune for an open bush and choose a resistant variety.
Good neighbours: Chives, Broad beans.
Same family
More from fruit and perennials
StrawberriesThe plants crop well for three years. Peg down runners to make new ones for free.
RaspberriesA row will crop for ten years. Autumn-fruiting kinds are the simplest: cut everything to the ground in February.
BlackcurrantsOne bush gives four or five kilos of fruit, and it asks for almost nothing.
RhubarbPlant it once in a corner and it will outlast your tenancy.
AsparagusTwo years of patience, then twenty years of spears every May.