On Jul 23, 8:31 am, (A.Lee) wrote:
For the past 3 years my goosegogs have had a coating of powdery white
mildew type fungus. This is killed off by a spraying of fungicide, but
the residue make the gooseberries rather unappealing.

American powdery mildew. You can spray with various fungicides and
prune the bushes to open them out and let more air in. Mine suffered
from it very badly last year (unsprayed) but have a decent crop this
year with one spraying of appropriate systemic fungicide early in the
season. Red dessert goosegogs about ready now.

Obviously this is an ongoing problem, and occurs on 2 8yo bushes,bought
at the same time, planted around 30 yards apart.

You could try Jostaberries instead (gooseberry-blackcurrant cross).
Mine don't seem to have any problems with mildew. The birds will eat
every last one if given a chance though.

To cure this, is it best to just pull them up, and replant new stock in
a different position, or is it likely to be a fault with the plants
position in the garden, or something in the soil?

Tidy up leaf litter underneath mulch with good compost, prune to an
open shape and spray early on to prevent it getting a hold and you
should be alright. I pick any off that show signs of atack. I don't
like spraying food crops in my garden unless it is absolutely
necessary.

Regards,
Martin Brown