[icbradley]

Using my new petrol strimmer I got too close to a gooseberry and have removed about 2 inches of the bark on the trunk.  Have I killed it?  The wound is all the way round the trunk.

[fatcat1955]

Probably

[simonwatson]

If they are like trees, then you've ring barked it, which can be fatal if not treated. This video shows how to repair. Success isn't guaranteed, but the alternative is near certain death.

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Instead of using a sucker as this guy does for the apple tree, you could use a v shaped wedge cut from a healthy part of the plant elsewhere.

I would also pick off the flowers and give it a prune too in order to reduce the amount of growth the repair need to sustain.

Good luck.

[icbradley]

Thanks for the replies.  I think I have ringbarked it as well, it is what we do to trees we don't want on a nature reserve I help with.  I will prune it and use them as cuttings, good idea.

Ian

[Salmo]

It will probably put out suckers from the base so just leave it and see.