[Mr B]

Hi All,
     I have just completed the job of picking 12lb of Gooseberries from my bush and my hands are well and truly scratched up but very pleased with the crop. I think that it needs a good pruning to make it easier to pick the crop next year. Does any one know when is the best time to this. I was thinking to do it now so as not to get new groth  that I will have to cut off later. I should say that I have it trained against a wall up the garden.
Regards,
Chris 

[barney rubble]

You can do it twice a year, now is the recommended time to cut back side shoots down to the bottom half dozen leaves. The real prune is late autumn or over the winter months to about half of the new growth

[mumofstig]

Sorry to jump on your bandwagon Mr B
They say to prune to keep the middle open, but mine is all the branches grow outwards and down Is there any way to get it to grow upright a bit....staking? and i would like it to have a bit of a leg, but if i prune for that...i'll have no branches left....it's a worry

[barney rubble]

Sorry to jump on your bandwagon Mr B
They say to prune to keep the middle open, but mine is all the branches grow outwards and down Is there any way to get it to grow upright a bit....staking? and i would like it to have a bit of a leg, but if i prune for that...i'll have no branches left....it's a worry

Have you got a pici mum? It sounds a bit like one of mine - it wants to traail the floor instead og sitting upright. Its one of my new cheapie ones this year, so I'm letting it be until the winter, but hope to get it to sit up and beg

[mumofstig]

Your wish is my command

[dunno what's happening there

Success at last

[barney rubble]

Yours looks alot better behaved that mine mum (no comments please! ) in that the branches are coming out in all directions - mine is really trailing off to one side and wanting to hit the ground.

I'd probably just give it a hard prune back in late autumn, as it looks like a youngster., so you'ver effectively got an open finger look to the branches coming off the main trunk. It hopefully then will start sprouting side shoots upwards from around the pruned ends of your branches.

Its your bush tho....would anybody else do it differently?