growing gooseberry cordon

[hollychap]

i watched the thompson & morgan fruit growing dvd a while back and it showed gooseberry and red currant grown as a cordon they looked about 4 foot tall . they didnt tell you how you go about growing them so anyone know how you go about it ?
ive bought a couple of gooseberry bushes from poundland to experiment with, any help most welcome

[veggiechicken]

Since you've put your photo up Hollychap, are you joining us on the Companion Planting Friendship thread?

[hollychap]

Since you've put your photo up Hollychap, are you joining us on the Companion Planting Friendship thread?

will go and have a nosey

[zazen999]

Since you've put your photo up Hollychap, are you joining us on the Companion Planting Friendship thread?

coffee> screen

Ooh - you are on form tonight.

[singleseeder]

VG, you are going to get a reputation if you are not careful. Now pay attention, what do you know about cordon goosgogs?

I saw some made into a step-over around a plot. Starting with a new bush, cut everything off except one vertical stem; cut this to about 9". If you need lots more plants to go around your plot, stick all of your cutting into the ground and most will root.

Next season, your 9" stem will have thrown several shoots. Prune again, keeping shoots facing in the right direction to make your step-over, cut the top off your leader again. Any facing the wrong way cut back to the main stem. The side shoots that are kept should be tied to horizontal canes to begin to train them.

After a few years you have a step-over fence of gooseberries. Each year just prune any shoots back to within a couple of buds of the main stems.

Phew, I hope that is sort of clear.

[veggiechicken]

VG, you are going to get a reputation if you are not careful. Now pay attention, what do you know about cordon goosgogs?

1. I hope I already have a reputation!
2. Nothing!!!

[Snadger]

I am fancying a go at standard/half standard gooseberry,redcurrant and white currant.

I imagine all could be grown espallier cordon or fan as well by simply training stems you want and rubbing out buds you don't want?

My gooseberies are a nightmare to pick in there bush form so last year I placed a brick over wayward branches to hopefully encourage layering where they touched the ground

Now all I need to do is remove the bricks and see if I have any layered plants available to play with!

[hollychap]

how do you go about starting a cordon ? the ones i have bought already have the main stem pruned off
so the growth is coming from side shoots do i train one side shoot vertical rubbing off any buds till it gets to the desired height or do i wait for a sucker to appear and train that to the desired height if you get what i mean ?

[mothhawk]

If the main stem has been pruned off, you could grow it as a double cordon and train a side shoot from each side of the main stem to grow vertically.

This site has simple sketches of different fruits grown as various cordons, which gives you a good visual idea of what you are aiming for.