New varieties make gooseberries a great addition
Gooseberries have long been grown for their sharp flavour, which is ideal in tarts, crumbles and jams. And with advances in breeding, growers have improved mildew resistance and increased the quality of the fruit on less thorny bushes.
But how should you grow them? Markus Kobelt, founder of fruit specialist Lubera, has the answers.
When should you plant them and where?
Gooseberries in containers can be planted all year long, but autumn is the ideal time. They can be planted in full sun or partial shade and are hardy and happy in almost any type of soil.
Let new shoots develop
If you are planting bushes, loosen the roots when you remove them from their containers and plant them in a hole double the size of the rootball, planting 5-10cm deeper than the surface of the container. Plant these gooseberry plants around 1.2m (4ft) apart. Water them in well. Plant bare root gooseberries between late autumn and early spring.
Options for small spaces
If you have limited space, try a berry standard, a tree-like form with a bushy head on a short trunk around 1m in length. Any growth appearing on the trunk should be rubbed off when it appears and the trunk should be staked as the head can become top heavy with fruit. Standards can be situated in the vegetable garden, perennial border or in a container on the patio.
Colour your plot
Various colours of gooseberry are available, including the bright red, aromatic ‘Crispa Nibbling’, the new ‘Crispa Darling’ and the yellow equivalent ‘Crispa Goldling’, which all claim better tolerance against mildew. For thornless types, try ‘Lady Sun’ and ‘Lady Late’.
You can also buy two varieties in one pot. The Moreberries ‘Yellow & Red Gooseberries’ provide the earlier maturing ‘Lady Sun’ with its sunny yellow colour and sweetness and ‘Captivator’, which starts to ripen at the end of the ‘Lady Sun’ harvest, so you can enjoy gooseberries for a longer season, in July and August. n