On Sun, 29 Jul 2007 21:03:46 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:


"Jim Jackson" wrote in message
...
Roger wrote:
My gooseberry bushes have cropped well. However they have been stripped
bare
of foliage probably through caterpillars. Are the bushes likely to
recover
or is it time to think about replacing them?

Interestingly, the older a gooseberry bush gets, the less attractive
it is to the sawfly. So look forward to the problem diminishing.


???

Ours must be twenty years od!!!

and mine are more than 30y old (planted by previous owner) and still
get sawfly, unless I run bantams underneath,
but then they sometimes get taken by fox, it's a constant battle
!)

so we have a while to wait to see if Jim's theory has validity ( sry
Jim!)

But yes, they will recover.