moving raspberry and gooseberry

[Michelle]

Hi

We currently have an allotment but are moving away in the next few months and will have a house with a garden. We're giving up our allotment this month, as the next year's rent is due.

We've got summer fruiting raspberry canes (lots of) and a pax goosberry that I only planted earlier this year and hasn't fruited this year.

We're hoping to move these (well, a couple of canes and the gooseberry bush) to our new house, but there's going to be a gap between giving up the allotment and moving to the house.

So.... is it ok to dig up the gooseberry now and put in pot until we move? Any advice for how to do this and when to replant?

Is there any way we can take a couple of canes and store until we move as well?

Thanks!

Michelle

[andrewo]

Gooseberries don't like being moved, they will transplant and it's best to get as much root ball as possible and put it into a pot and then in spring give a good feed of potash and blood, fish and bone. Also, give it a prune in the Winter months, they will stimulate root growth and then finally help when its placed in its new home. Give the best start you can at the new place, plenty of compost and a nice open sunny spot. Raspberry canes are very easy to move, they are shallow rooted, water them well and dig them out, don't dig too close - use a fork for this job, and then literally bundle them together and place in a pot with fresh compost, water and place in a sheltered area as the frost could get them in a pot. Same with the gooseberry.

[Grandpadragon]

Hi Michelle,
Your fruit bushes will soon be heading for the dormant season so it worth having a go. The gooseberry should not have expanded its root ball to far yet so dig it up with as much root ball as possible and put it in a large pot/tub general purpose compost will be fine, or soil from your lottie if its reasonable. Prune it as usual. With the raspberries prune out the old fruited canes and then lift the new unfruted cane and put in pots buckets in compost and keep out side. You should prune them back to about 12-18" and so not getting a crop next year a compromise would be to prune to 2-3ft
and you would get some side shoots and a small crop. You could say what the hell and leave unpruned and risk losing some. Both plants are tough and much harder to kill than you think.
With all the stess of moving it might be easier to buy new plants later.
Good luck

[Madasafish]

As far as the gooseberries are concerned, take a few cuttings and place in a pot.