November.
You can sow:
Plant of the month
Gooseberry
Position:
Cropping:
RHS recommended varieties: (from RHS webpage)
Pruning:
Winter pruning:
2 year old bushes:
Mature bushes:
Summer pruning:
Pests:
Diseases:
Propagation:
In October take a hardwood cutting from current seasons growth. Remove the soft top growth and some of the bottom of the harder wood to end with a cutting about a foot long (30 cm). Remove all buds and leaves except the top 4-5 buds.
Use a spade to open a split in the ground and put cutting in the ground buds showing above the ground. Gently firm soil around plant.
You can sow:
- Broad Beans. Sow a winter hardy variety e.g. Aquadulce Claudia
- Fruit trees and bushes
- Garlic
- Rhubarb
- Dig and manure your plot before the ground is unworkable due to the weather.
- Lime ground if it’s too acidic.
- Do not lime freshly manured ground
- Remove bean poles and store in a dry place
- Prune apples, pears, vines, currents and gooseberries .
- Take hardwood cuttings of Vines, currents and gooseberries
- Figs: Remove fruit that is bigger than a cherry, leave embryo fruit alone, these are next years figs
- Collect leaves to make leaf mould
- Net Brassicas against pigeons
Plant of the month
Gooseberry
Position:
- Semi shade or full sun
- Any moist and well-drained soil but prefers well manured ground.
- Ground free of perennial weeds.
- Area not prone to frosts in spring when plant in blossom.
Cropping:
- Early July
- Mature a well maintained bush would produce 8-10 lb (4-5 kg) of fruit. (Its possible to grow as cordons as well but only 5 lb (2.5 kg) per plant).
- Cover plants against birds when fruit are forming
RHS recommended varieties: (from RHS webpage)
- Invicta: Green culinary, good disease resistance.
- Whinham’s Industry: Red dessert or culinary gooseberry. Tolerates heavy soil.
- Leveller: Yellow dessert, good disease resistance.
- Add at least a bucket full of manure or compost and 1 oz (30 grams) of sulphate of potash per sq yard (square metre) before planting.
- Buy 2-3 year old plants and plant 5 feet (1.5 metres) apart between October and March.
- Each spring top dress with ¾ oz (22 grams) of sulphate of potash and mulch with well rotted compost or well rotted manure.
- Hand weed plants as roots are shallow.
- Protect the plants from birds eating fruit buds over winter.
- Water well in dry weather.
Pruning:
- Prune in winter. If bird damage is likely prune when buds start to swell in spring to an undamaged bud.
- Aim is to make a goblet shaped bush to make picking easier and discourage mildew.
- Branches drooping near ground prune to an inward bud. Upright branches to an outward bud.
Winter pruning:
- 1 year old bushes:
- Remove all branches except 3-4 of the strongest shoots. Shorten these shoots by ¾.
- Cut out any low shoots to produce a clean stem 4-6 inches long (100-150 mm).
2 year old bushes:
- Pick 8-10 to ten best shoots and shorten new growth by half. If these best shoots are spindly or drooping shorten by 2/3 instead.
- Remove all other shoots.
- Aim for a goblet shaped bush with an open centre
Mature bushes:
- Cut branches back by a half and side branches to 2 buds.
- Remove congested crossing and low lying branches
- Aim for a goblet shaped bush with an open centre.
Summer pruning:
- Shorten side shoots to about 5 leaves
Pests:
- Aphids
- Capsid bug
- Gooseberry sawfly
- Birds
Diseases:
- Gooseberry mildew
- Grey mould
- Honey Fungus
- Leaf spot
- Rust
- Scald
Propagation:
In October take a hardwood cutting from current seasons growth. Remove the soft top growth and some of the bottom of the harder wood to end with a cutting about a foot long (30 cm). Remove all buds and leaves except the top 4-5 buds.
Use a spade to open a split in the ground and put cutting in the ground buds showing above the ground. Gently firm soil around plant.