When should i move gooseberry bushes

Gooseberries produce fruit on 2-year-old canes, 3-year-old canes and older canes. New canes originate from the underground crown each season on vigorous plants.

The younger canes are more productive, so it is desirable to remove the older, weaker canes by cutting them out at the soil line. This leaves a preponderance of the younger, more vigorous canes and encourages a continuous replacement of new canes. Young plants, therefore, require little pruning for the first three or four years. Pruning - Currants and Gooseberries in the Home Garden.

You should prune established currant and gooseberry shrubs to encourage vigor and fruit production, improve sun penetration into the bush, and maintain good air circulation to minimize disease.

During the first three years of growth, allow four or five canes to develop per year, removing only weak or damaged wood. Beginning in the fourth year, prune out the oldest wood annually in early spring before growth begins. In addition, remove any weak new growth.

A mature bush should have 9 to 12 canes once pruning is completed. Fruit is produced on one-, two-, and three-year-old wood. Then dig all the way around the bush, dig as far out from the it as you can, you want to limit the damage as much as possible to the root system which is shallow.

Work a tarp under and around the root-ball, this will help keep the root-ball encased in soil during the lifting and moving processes. Then when moving the bush, pick it up manhandle it via the tarp. Dig the new hole only as deep as you have to ie When you put the bush in its new location it shouldn't seat deeper in the soil than it did previously.

Also dig the new hole twice as wide as the root-ball you managed to remove from the ground. Back fill the hole with the material you dug out the well prepared soil you had prepared months, weeks beforehand , making sure you heel it in well as you go. Once the bush is in its new home in the ground, give it a long, slow drink, you really want to water it in well. Some of the above points come from this answer, Any special steps which should be taken when transplanting a potato bush?

Currants, Gooseberries and Jostaberries. Gooseberries and Currants. Currants and Gooseberries in the Home Garden. Currants and Gooseberries. Pruning Raspberries, Blackberries and Gooseberries. Mike's answer is very helpful in that it walks you though the transplanting process. Remember to get help because the root system is likely bigger than and the soil ball heavier than you expect.

Remember also to wrap the root ball tightly while transporting the shrub. You do not want the root ball to fall apart on the way. Also keep the stems covered and moist during transit. You do not want them drying out. Moving an established woody plant is hard to do by hand. You need to be prepared for the likely possibility that much or all of the root ball will fall apart.

Unlike bulbs and perennials, woody plants stop growing completely when the top goes dormant — the roots do not continue to grow. After you move the shrub, you are, in effect, storing it in its new location until it begins to grow again in the spring. So if you lose the root ball or if only end up with a relatively small root ball, you need be concerned with protecting the canes during this storage period.

You will need to prune differently also. Wait until the plant has gone dormant. Then before you begin to dig it up, you will want to prune it back. The second and third year canes on a gooseberry produce the most fruit because they store the most food. They are the stems you want to save. Remove all the old canes year four or more at ground level.

Remove all the new and twiggy growth and shorten the stems that remain. This will make the plant easier to handle, and, if you get a good root ball, it is all the pruning you need to do. They all yield copious clusters of berries every summer. These medium sized, oval-shaped fruits start off pale and become pink when fully ripe.

Gooseberries can range from yellow, green, and white to red, purple or nearly black. What is most noticeable in all are the veins in the skin of the fruit.

They are also great for freezing and using later. These garden beds behind the greenhouse and near the raspberries are already established, and had been cleared of a few filbert trees and blackberry bushes. Last autumn, we amended the soil, adding a fresh layer of composted manure to what was already there, and then tilled it.

The middle bed is perfect for the gooseberries. Here is Ryan moving two of the gooseberries over to the new location. Once all the plants are moved over, Ryan spaces them equally along the bed. For multiple plants, it is a good idea to space the holes at least four-feet apart. These bushes have also been pruned. Gooseberries need pruning so the plant forms evenly spaced branches that allow air and sunlight into the center, but are also nice and strong for fruit production.

The gooseberries are now ready to be planted, Ryan starts by digging a series of holes along the length of the bed. Each hole should be deeper and wider than the root system. Login or Sign Up. Logging in Remember me. Log in. Forgot password or user name? Moving gooseberry bushes.

Posts Latest Activity Photos. Page of 1. Filtered by:. Previous template Next. Moving gooseberry bushes , PM. Hi all, I planted 3 gooseberry bushes a couple of years ago in a small bed on my allotment.

I didn't quite realise how big they would grow, and th ey really are quite cramped. Is it possible to move them to a larger space, do you think?