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Stewart Robert Hinsley · 28-09-2009, 01:10 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening

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writes
On 28 Sep, 13:16, Nitromax® wrote:
I have two gooseberry bushes that put on a decent growth
spurt this year. However, the caterpillars approved of the
new growth and during the course of just three days ate
pretty much all of it.

I picked off as many as I could but there were hundreds of
the buggers most of them rather small. A blast with the
hose pipe was the most effective method and finally got
rid of them.

Now I have two rather bare bushes, the only leaves left are
those from last years growth. Assuming I can keep the
caterpillars at bay next year, what are the chances of
the bushes recovering?

Would I be better off doing some hard pruning, leave it alone
or will the new growth come back?

T.I.A

--
Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you
realise you're wrong.

They'll regrow their leaves next year. No need to do anything now. But
next year, keep an eye out for the caterpillars, and spray with a
suitable killer as soon as they appear, targeting the underside of the
leaves where they hide. If you don't like using chemicals, soapy water
(ex washing-up) may also work.

If I can tag on a question of my own: My books say that gooseberries
don't need pruning, but in recent years I've had a dramatic downturn
in quantity of fruit, with or without caterpillars, and the bushes are
straggling a bit. Does the panel thing that pruning would improve
yield, or at least not reduce it any more?

Chris

I inherited some gooseberries bushes with an allotment. One is on the
corner of the allotment, so I have to prune it anyway, to stop if
blocking access to allotments further down the plot. This doesn't seem
to have done any harm.

Apart from that, my impression was the pruning was beneficial. I cut out
some of the old wood, and healthy new growth takes over. Also if allowed
to, gooseberries produce tangled masses of stems, which are not exactly
easy to harvest the berries from.

The one bush produces plenty of fruit for me - I've still got several
litres in the freezer - so I haven't paid much attention to the other
bushes at the back of the allotment, which are the aforesaid tangled
masses of stems, and aren't very productive. But the low productivity
could also be due to overshading by hawthorns on the boundary - I've
noticed that gooseberries growing wild produce hardly any fruits.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley