Replacing one gooseberry with another?

[mrbadexample]

Hi all,

I've got a gooseberry bush in the garden that I'd like to get rid of. It's a Hinnonmaki yellow I think. It's a sprawling mess because it didn't get pruned at all for the first few years of its life, and it's producing very little fruit - almost none this year.

I'd like to swap it for a nice traditional variety like Invicta.

Are there any issues with me digging up the old one and replacing it with new? I don't have any other spot in the garden it could go.

Cheers,
MBE

[Kirk]

Should be able to replace it as asked but my concern is that the Hinnonmaki's tend to be more resistant to problems then Invicta. You could start getting problems with Invicta.

Also if Invicta is left to itself then it will also become a sprawling mess, you will have to prune and maintain a new Invicta.
In effect would not pruning and training the existing Hinnonmaki not be a better idea.

[bearded bloke]

No fruit off the one you gave me either MBE

[Alison]

In effect would not pruning and training the existing Hinnonmaki not be a better idea.

That was my thoughts too, they take a while to become established so you'll get no fruit from a new one to start with either and at least the existing one should have strong roots by now so will cope with the necessary pruning.


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[mrbadexample]

No fruit off the one you gave me either MBE

That's because I gave you rhubarb!

Seriously, did I give you a gooseberry too? I don't remember that!

I've been trying to prune the Hinnonmaki for a couple of years now, and the results haven't been very good. TBH I'd rather start again. I don't mind waiting for a new one to become established - my Hinnonmaki red will keep me in fruit until it is.

I thought Invicta was an old variety, but apparently it isn't (1983 I think). I'd probably go for a Careless - what I'm after is a big green hairy thing like my granny used to have in her garden.

I just want to make sure there are no issues with digging up one bush and putting another straight in after it.

[bearded bloke]

Yep you surely did,goosegogs nil,I let the rhubarb settle in last year (as advised) & had three crumbles of it this year

[Nicos]

I have a brill idea!!!!

why not get the new variety but keep it in a pot right nest to the old one....even if it means putting the pot on the soil next to the older one.
...give the other one another year to fruit.

Maybe stick a few bee friendly flowers ( which flower at the same time as the gooseberry) underneath the bush canopy too?
If that doesn't work, then donate the old shrub to someone and then the replacement shrub will be one year older and one year more advanced!

Personally I would replant in the same spot if there is nothing wrong with the one you remove....just have a good look at the roots and soil to check first!

I have a couple of baby gooseberry bushes which have been in tubs for a couple of years and they are fruiting fine.

[Scarlet]

I don't think you will have any trouble growing another gooseberry in the same spot but is it really through lack of pruning that you've had little fruit? I'm not the best of pruning, I just hack away and hope for the best!! Seems to work on the fruit front but I certainly haven't got the goblet shape all the professional gardens say you need to get. Although, I do give them a good mulch for the winter and come spring I use a good load of chicken pellets for a top dressing -I really think these make a difference. That said, I have several gooseberry bushes including the hinnonmaki red and yellow, red pax and invicta. The invicta by far always has much more fruit than the others - though it doesn't taste the same as my grandmothers gooseberry that she used to grow!

[mrbadexample]

Maybe stick a few bee friendly flowers ( which flower at the same time as the gooseberry) underneath the bush canopy too?

Nope. The problem was lack of flowers, not lack of pollination. I've got loads of bees. It just didn't produce very many this year.

[mrbadexample]

Red one:


Green / yellow one:


The red one is next to the compost bin, which may account for the increased vigour. The other's a mess - I just think it's more trouble than it's worth trying to prune it back into shape. Plus I want bigger gooseberries than I get from it.

[roitelet]

Spur pruning is supposed to give you bigger fruit but not as many.

[Nicos]

I would suggest cutting it back into a ball shape for now, increase the potassium ( potash )in the Spring and squeezing a pot onto the corner.
Having said that, it sounds to me you've already decided to pull it out!!

[boundtothesoil]

I'd give Invicta a try. It always crops well for me, is a vigorous grower, recovers when devastated by gooseberry sawfly caterpillars and its cuttings root well.

[gullivar33]

gooseberry

If you want a very good cropper then get one called XENIA it be a red berry fruit my bushes are bending over with fruit , at my last house we had gooseberry bushes over 12 years old and not once did I prune them we had loads of fruit every year they were called golden ball ? i think that was the name big yellow fruits

[gullivar33]

Use water wisely dilute it first !!