[sj475]

Can anyone help me?  I planted Raspberries, Gooseberries and Currants, last year, .  Problem is 2 Gooseberries died and i turned brown, Now the raspberries are not thriving and leaves look pale and brown. 

When we planted the garden , we put permeable membrane down , and did not clear all the weeds( this was due to the amount of fruit we were given that needed to go in, on top of the membrane we mulched with bark chippings, it looked great .

Now i am told that the mulch has starved the plants and needs to be removed,

Can some one back up this advice and tell me how to rescue the restt of the plants,  ie:can i put a nitrate feed on to help recover the growth.

Thanks for reading

Steve

[corynsboy]

It could be any number of things from soil type to a bug.  May I suggest that the problem started when you did not clear all the weeds.   

The mulch hasn't starved the plants.  So that's OK. By and large it will do more good than harm as it keeps the roots warm in winter and stops evaporation of moisture in the soil during the summer. 

I mulch my fruit bushes with garden bark chips and water permeable membranes and my plants are just fine.

Raspberries send out shoots on which the next year’s fruit will grow, so the membrane might be hindering that a little.  Cut a nice round hole in the membrane around each plant about six to eight inches away from the roots this will help.  Keep the mulch on this area as this will continue to suppress the weeds but you will need to keep an eye on your fruit this summer and weed, water and mulch as required. 

Check with the RHS website about feeding and pruning and watering for your particular variety of raspberries.  The RHS do it so much better than I can. 

Try and exactly identify the particular problem you have with fruit bushes by comparing the symptoms against pictures from a website or a reliable book about fruit growing.  Some fruit tree conditions can be terminal and you'll need to dig up the bush and burn it, and some treatments and cures can be very specific like painting leaves or feeding with something very specific.

[Allotment Jon]

I have noticed this subject a couple of times recently on the Forum. My neighbour told me to grow Raspberry's that way however the other day was informed by a member of the forum that it is not good practice to put a membrane down.

My 2 raised beds are 8ft square and have needed very little weeding so far this year. I made a cross cut in the mebrane when I first put it down and the other night upon more advice went to remove the membrane and just leave the bark chips in place.

I decided in the end to just rip the original cross cuts open and make sure the membrane is fairly loose around the base of the trees as less weeding the better.I noticed last night that a fresh branch has appeared on the bottom of the stalk so am fairly sure that this method is ok.

[sj475]

Thanks both, will use both your advice, will keep mulch but move away from stems, will make larger cuts in membrane and then research RHS website   thanks

[BrianK]

Check this book out on google books  It has a huge area for fruit and issues with them   Most of it is available online as a sample  (hehe)

The Big Book of Gardening - A Comprehensive Guide for the Home Gardener ...
 By Charles Boff