Not sure a Gooseberry bush belongs with "shrubs"--but there is no
closer category in the Forums list. And--it IS a shrub....
SO...
Many, many years ago--30 or so--I inherited a Gooseberry Bush from an
elderly friend--now long deceased. The stems have thorns. Leaves are green.
The berries, when ripe, turn red.
I planted it in a slightly raised bed--but it really never thrived there as it
was just feet from a large Maple tree. Only ONE year I picked enough berries
to make a couple jars of preserves.
And--so it has sat there for years just growing bigger and bigger
producing just a couple berries to snack on.
The bed it is in has been a "wasteland" of sorts where nothing grows...
I used to have Northern Sea Oats in there--they loved it! GONE!!!
I will be tearing this whole bed apart and, hopefully, putting some pave stones over the
top of it so I can put pots on them. Has good light--can't do anything else there.
I want to save this Gooseberry bush! Sentimental reasons...
I am planning to plant it in a huge pot and let it re-grow there,
hopefully producing loads of berries. The well-amended soil will help.
This morning, I started to cut it back, and will continue doing so as low as is
reasonable until it is manageable to dig up and move it out of this old bed.
THEN--it occurred to me that, maybe, I could root some of the removed stems???
The bush is now full of long, new soft-wood growths. Can't root them!
Below all the new growths is the previous year's, now hardened off, woody growth.
From all my gardening knowledge--hardwood growth is what is usually rooted.
When the whole shrub will be cut down, I will remove the oldest stems to the ground
leaving the newer ones to take over. So far--this has been impossible to do
because of the thorns...
I am asking someone here, who may have experience with Gooseberries,
to chime in and give me his or her advice on how to proceed.
Here are some pictures:
1--The whole bush (I have already cut some of the stems off...)
2--The whole bush from the other side. It sits very close to an old Lilac bush.
On this picture--you can see the sad state of the bed it has grown in.
The fence was put up by my neighbor just 2 years ago.
Yes! it does cut out some of the sun from the West.
3--Here is a typical, cut off stem showing the new growth and, below that,
the hardened off last year's growth
4--This is a close-up of that area
5--This is what how I am thinking I would divide the stem.
Discard the new growths--and try and root the hardwood section below it.
Questions:
--In what kind of a medium (soil--sand---gravely soil???) would the cuttings
root the best in?
--Would they need to be "greenhoused"--(as in using a bottle cut in half)
--They would, most likely, be left outside for the winter, I am in z-7a--and our
winters can be almost non-existent--or they can be nasty cold with snow.
Very variable....I live in a development--so lots of houses around too.
Thank you very much! Gita
