I had loads growing last year, then overnight some critters raided the whole bush 🙁
FailTuringTest on
Yes, prune gooseberries in the winter when they are dormant. Cut off branches that are growing inwards to create a more open centre, branches that are crossing, and branches that don’t look healthy (“dead, diseased, and damaged” is the mantra of pruning).
If you want more gooseberry bushes, you can put branches that you cut off in pots and they will (probably, eventually) grow into new bushes!
punishedprincess_ on
>Didn’t have any gooseberries last year which was unusual.
Gooseberries produce fruit on the branches which grew last year. Maybe this is why yours didn’t fruit, because you removed all of the previous year’s wood. Once a branch has fruited, it will never fruit again and you can remove if you don’t want to retain it for structural purposes.
I have also experienced them not fruiting after particularly bad years of being completely defoliated by gooseberry sawfly. Luckily the pest is extremely susceptible to neem oil, I would highly recommend it for severe infestations.
3 Comments
Yes, prune it in winter.
I had loads growing last year, then overnight some critters raided the whole bush 🙁
Yes, prune gooseberries in the winter when they are dormant. Cut off branches that are growing inwards to create a more open centre, branches that are crossing, and branches that don’t look healthy (“dead, diseased, and damaged” is the mantra of pruning).
If you want more gooseberry bushes, you can put branches that you cut off in pots and they will (probably, eventually) grow into new bushes!
>Didn’t have any gooseberries last year which was unusual.
Gooseberries produce fruit on the branches which grew last year. Maybe this is why yours didn’t fruit, because you removed all of the previous year’s wood. Once a branch has fruited, it will never fruit again and you can remove if you don’t want to retain it for structural purposes.
I have also experienced them not fruiting after particularly bad years of being completely defoliated by gooseberry sawfly. Luckily the pest is extremely susceptible to neem oil, I would highly recommend it for severe infestations.