Overgrown Fruit Bed

[SarzWix]

I'm just trying to deal with this problem on #2 allotment. The fruit bed consisted of 3 really old gooseberry bushes, a crowded rhubarb patch, an old blackcurrant bush and a 3 year old blackcurrant (which is planted in totally the wrong place) and a huge flowering currant all totally infested with couch grass and encroached into by a load of brambles from over the wall.

So far, I've chopped back loads of brambles, dug up and split some of the rhubarb and replanted it in a cleared patch at the far end, chopped down the big flowering currant and attempted to remove the couch grass from around the old gooseberries.

Today I've fitted some weed suppressant fabric around the gooseberries, but I'm not sure if that's going to keep the couch grass down, or if it will wiggle through the weave...? The intention is to cover it all with bark shred, but I can't afford it yet!

Anyway, I'm wondering, what next? The small blackcurrant needs to be moved, but I don't know when would be best to do it? It was planted last year as a 2 year old and is too close to the old blackcurrant, but it's started to bud already plus the whole replanting area is infested with couch. Would it be best to move it now before it gets any more established, and just remove as much couch as possible from the immediate area where it will be planted, OR, leave it where it is for this year, do a more thorough job of clearing the area it will be planted in and move it while it's fully dormant?

Also, what is the best way to deal with the leftover bit of flowering currant? It has managed to layer itself so that there's about 5 extra plants springing up around the perimeter and then about 5 'trunks' in the centre. It's already starting to throw out buds from all of the stems so I need to do something with it, quite apart from the huge amount of space it's taking up. But, there's a chance that digging it out will disturb the roots of the other currants and one of the gooseberry bushes, so should I wait til next winter to do it?

What a long waffly post this has turned into...

[SarzWix]

I've moved this post into a thread of it's own because I don't think anyone noticed it on the end of the other thread

I'm going to be tackling this at the weekend, weather permitting, so could do with some advice please

[janeyo]

Not an expert but would have thought if you could move it without disturbing it too much, ie dig deep and lift it well, then now would be fine. You can still buy and plant them from gcs at the moment with buds on.

I should think the goosberries will cope with a bit of disturbance so long as you firm it all back down properly.

[SarzWix]

The couch is awful, goodness knows how many years it's been given free rein, but the roots aren't white spaghetti like I'm used to seeing - they're thick and brown

[janeyo]

And if you don't move them this year, they will be worse next year

[binley100]

You have my sympathies. We had the same problem The gooseberries were infested with nettles as well. I just kept at it with the nettles and couch by a combination of hand weeding and hoeing. The raspberries were a night mare with couch and marestail . I cleared what I could then spread damp newspaper and kept mulching on top with grass cuttings etc. Waiting to see how it goes this year. I think it's still ok to move the blackcurrant but you might not get fruit this year.