[Yana]

Im on the hunt for gooseberry bushes as suffice to say that between agreeing a second half plot in February of this year and getting  down to working on it in early march, 8 gooseberry bushes had disappeared!!
I have found what appears to be a good deal on several websites, however a telephone call soon identifies that the good deal isnt as good as it first seemed. For example, 9 plants for £20 = 12-18" high bsuhes that wont fruit for two years. Or am I expecting too much?

[mumofstig]

For example, 9 plants for £20 = 12-18" high bsuhes that wont fruit for two years. Or am I expecting too much?

I'm not up to date with the prices, but yes - you do buy them small and wait for them to grow before they'll fruit.............or else buy as bigger (sometimes pot grown) plants but these cost a lot more money.
So it's up to you, buy little'uns and wait or start saving for bigger ones 

[gavinjconway]

or....  you can plonk some cuttings in a pot and forget about them for a year them plant out and wait another couple of years..

[Jamie Butterworth]

Ive got 3 gooseberry plants that I bought bare-root from the pund shop, I have to admit, I was very hesitant but I thought whats the worse that could happen for £3.

Anyway, they are now in there 3rd year and have fruited unbelievabley well, this is the first year they have fruited but it was well worth the wait, and they are delicous too. This may be your best option if your wanting quite a few plants, but like Mumofstig says, you can splash out more on bigger ones that will fruit a lot quicker. 

[allotmentann]

I bought mine from mailordertrees in the spring, as that is when i got my allotment. They do an offer buy three get one free so you can get four for just under £21. These were lovely bushes and were loaded with fruit within weeks of being planted. Sadly, being an idiot, i didn't net them and the pigeons stripped the lot overnight!
Jparker do a pack of nine for just under £20, I do not know what size these are however, but so far everything I have ordered from them has been nice.

[Aunt Sally]

Unless you have lots of uses for gooseberries 2-3 plants are ample.

[DD.]

I agree with Aunty.

I've got three bushes, these are the pickings off one:

[gavinjconway]

And the cat... was that from a catcus bush.. 

[DD.]

You ought to write a book of bad puns, Gavin! 

[allotmentann]

DD the cat is beautiful

[Yana]

J Parker was the company I called today and they said their plants are barefoot and won't fruit for two years. I'll hunt around and see if I can get any bigger bushes at a reasonable price.

[savbo]

Do you have plot neighbours you could ask? Gooseberries root easily where the branches touch the soil so when I was tidying my new plot I lifted a couple of dozen of healthy gooseberry plants, all gone to good homes now. You should be a ble tos crounge some I'd have thought?

sav

[Annen]

Do you have plot neighbours you could ask? Gooseberries root easily where the branches touch the soil so when I was tidying my new plot I lifted a couple of dozen of healthy gooseberry plants, all gone to good homes now. You should be a ble tos crounge some I'd have thought?

sav

Yes, I have just been given 6 new cutting in a pot from a neighbour to replace the ones that died in the floods.

[AlaninCarlisle]

I bought mine from mailordertrees in the spring, as that is when i got my allotment. They do an offer buy three get one free so you can get four for just under £21. These were lovely bushes and were loaded with fruit within weeks of being planted. Sadly, being an idiot, i didn't net them and the pigeons stripped the lot overnight!
Jparker do a pack of nine for just under £20, I do not know what size these are however, but so far everything I have ordered from them has been nice.

Thanks for the mailordertrees recommendation. I've just bookmarked the company for some apple trees to buy later this month

[Yana]

The prices are good at mailordertrees, however it's the delivery charges that make me cross. How can it cost £9.95 to deliver four small bushes??