Good varieties to grow in the UK: Leveller, Invicta (in smaller spaces) Plant in: October to February Harvest in: Late summer Type of soil needed: Well-drained, medium acidity Favoured climate: Cool and sunny
Gooseberries are a traditional British fruit and great to cook with. They grow on bushes, which are easy to plant and maintain; furthermore, a well-tended gooseberry bush can produce fruit for 15 years or more.
It's OK to plant gooseberry bushes as late as February, as long as the soil you're using isn't waterlogged or at all frozen. You'll need to dig the bed over a month or so in advance, and keep it well-tended and clear to allow it to settle. Try and dig in any compost or some other organic material.
Start with one or two bushes - allowing two metres between them to allow for growing room and so you can walk between them to pick the fruit - and take a look at the soil mark on the trunk of the bush you've bought. Plant in a 60cm hole which goes as deep as the soil mark.
Once the roots have taken hold and the bush has started to grow, ensure that the soil is kept moist - particularly during the summer months. If the soil is good, you shouldn't need to feed the bushes too much - a small scattering of mulch around the trunk in summer and a little bonemeal or organic compost in autumn should do - but keep the area around the underside of the bush completely free from weeds. A thick layer of bark - say 5 cm - should help here.
Prune in winter, spring and autumn, but only the shoots that go back into the centre of the bush.
When fruit starts to appear - which could be the summer after the year in which they're planted - pick around 10-20% of it in May or June and use these small berries to cook with. Ensure that fruit-bearing bushes are watered evenly, rather than left to dry and then heavily watered.
You'll need to watch out for birds eating the fruit, so cover the bushes in summer with weighted nets. Also, make sure that caterpillars and sawfly aren't damaging your bushes.
