Berry NICE

Lenka Cooke, RHS horticultural adviser at Wisley, shares her expert tips on growing gooseberries and red and white currants

- LENKA COOKE

Gooseberries and red and white currants are easy-to-grow soft fruit that are able to cope with a wide range of soil conditions and sun or light shade. They can be grown either as bushes or as restricted forms such as upright cordons, which take up less space and can be planted closer together for a wide mixture of different varieties in a small garden. They can also be trained as fans against a wall or grown in large pots. Standards or tree-like forms with a bushy head on a short trunk are obtained as grafted or budded plants with a clear ‘trunk’ 1-1.2m (3½-4ft) high.

PLANTING FRUIT BUSHES

Plant bare-root bushes between late autumn and early spring, and container grown plants at any time, avoiding waterlogged, parched or frozen soil.

Select two to three-year old bushes with a well balanced head, on a short trunk or stem of about 10-15cm (4-6in), of three to five main branches.

Space bushes 1.2-1.5m (4-5ft) apart and cordons 30-38cm (12-15in) apart. Plant each cordon tied to a 1.7m (5½ft) bamboo cane that is secured to horizontal wires spaced 60cm and 1.2m (2ft and 4ft) apart.