Kay Easton wrote:
: Steve Harris writes
:Am ALARMED at the number of pests and diseases I shall be facing! It
:seems the birds will eat everything, although the apples might escape.
.........
: Gooseberries get gooseberry sawfly, which strips all the leaves. Doesn't
: seem to worry the plants overmuch though.

Depends. There can often be a couple of generations of sawfly - if your
goosegog is stripped bare early on, it can affect them. I've had goosegogs
stripped, and had a rest on the following year from fruiting.

:But he prescribes spraying the apples at SIX specific times during the
:year.
:
:Is it really that grim or is the good Doctor something of a pessimist?

: I don't spray mine at all. OK, they're not the healthiest trees in the
: world, but the apples are OK and the crops are good. And it's the heck
: of a lot less bother!

Heartily agree with Kay. You do have to be vigilant thought. Checking for
sawfly, and other infestations very regularly and manually removing. Also
for apples and pears I find you have to be eternally vigilant for canker
and similar and cut out infected branches promptly. But then there's
nothing like having a good idle potter round the garden, secateurs in
hand - not exactly arduous, and very relaxing!

: It's very difficult to spray against harmful organisms and avoid killing
: some goodies as well, My experience has been that, after several years
: of not spraying, the pests are becoming less and less troublesome.

I've read that older gooseberry bushes are less susceptable to sawfly than
newer bushes!

Jim