[Snap Dragon]

Is it ok to prune my goosegogs now?

They were moved from my Mums plot about 2 years ago and have settled in really well and fruited like mad this year. The are at the top end of my plot that doesn't get sun all day.

How hard should I prune them and should I be aiming to take all the lower stems away to keep them clear of the ground?

[Yorkie]

My goosegogs are sadly neglected ... but if I had ever pruned them I'd have used the RHS advice  

[MoreWhisky]

I pruned mine last week.

[SG6]

Don't get too heavy handed as goosberries fruit on old wood. So if you prune heavily then you will have removed the old wood and will have to wait a year for fruit.

Think they say remove dead, diseased wood and in my case any that stab me in the hand (revenge).

Also make the bush reasonably open to aid air flow to minimise infection by moulds etc.

[Snap Dragon]

Thanks for the replies.... I'll get pruning asap and I'll try not to be too heavy handed.

My Uncle pruned an apple tree for mum when I was young... we came home to find a tree trunk and no branches!!!! 

[Pip Judgeford]

Over the past few winters I was taking lots of cuttings of my gooseberries to give to friends, and realised that I was taking off all the last years wood that was the fruiting wood, so less fruit   Now that I've twigged that what you have at autumn is what they fruit on, I now summer prune for shape ie just after harvest.  The bush can grow more in the right places before winter, and has lots of fruiting wood  .

The other thing I apply is the " if its climbing up, prune it down: if it wants to grow down, prune it up" rule.  This has been great: all my cascading bushes that have a tendency to put their elbow in the dirt and root are all pruned to upward facing buds.  All my heading for the sky and wont fit in the berry cage soon bushes are pruned to outward-facing baud to open the bush for picking and keep the height under control.  Sp easy picking of productive bushes

Pip