Ah, the humble gooseberry. A delicious fruit that, in my view at least, never gets the plaudits it deserves. When it comes to the best fruits, these grape-shaped flavour bombs are rarely put in the same conversations as strawberries, raspberries and other soft fruits, but they absolutely should be as far as I’m concerned.

With that in mind, we’ve put together this complete guide on growing gooseberries so that you can experience the brilliance of a homegrown gooseberry for yourself.

Jump to:

• Growing gooseberries from seed
• Growing gooseberries from cuttings
• Growing gooseberries from plants
• Planting potted gooseberry plants
• Planting bare root gooseberry plants
• Watering gooseberry plants
• Feeding gooseberry plants
• Pruning gooseberry plants
• Harvesting and storing your gooseberries
• How to use your gooseberries

Growing gooseberries from seed

If you don’t mind it taking a bit longer to see your first gooseberries, and you want to go the whole horticultural hog, then consider growing your gooseberry plant(s) all the way from seed. To do this, secure some seeds from ripe gooseberries, then dry them completely.

Take your seeds and place them in between damp paper towels, then seal them in a ziplock bag. Store this bag in the fridge for two to three months. This process of cold stratification helps mimic the natural process of overcoming seed dormancy.

After this period, take a seed tray and fill each individual cell with a seed starting mix. Then pop a seed into each cell, cover with a thin layer of compost and then place a humidity dome on top to keep the conditions warm and moist.

Growing gooseberries from cuttings

A quicker way to grow a gooseberry plant is to start from a cutting, and skip the germination process altogether. This is also a good option if you already have a gooseberry bush successfully growing in your garden from which you can take a hardwood cutting.

Take your cutting while the plant is dormant, aiming to select a healthy, vigorous shoot. Trim this cutting down into smaller pieces, cutting diagonally just above and horizontally below healthy buds. Check out this comprehensive guide from Gardening Know How for more information on how to properly take your gooseberry cutting.

Once you’ve got your cuttings, dip them in some rooting hormone and then plant them in some peat-free, specialist cuttings compost (like the one suggested earlier in the growing from seed section) or some multi-purpose compost with added perlite.

Make sure your compost remains moist and keep your cuttings inside a cold frame. Then, the following autumn, start to harden off your cuttings before eventually transplanting them to their final position outdoors.

Top tip: don’t worry too much if you don’t immediately see signs of growth from your cuttings, sometimes it can take a couple of months for the cuttings to root.

Growing gooseberries from plants

If you’re of the view that life’s too short to be busy fiddling around with seeds and cuttings, then this next option is for you. The easiest way to grow a gooseberry bush is undoubtedly by purchasing an established plant – either potted or bare root. This way, you’re guaranteed a happy, healthy plant that has an excellent chance of rooting and establishing well in your garden upon planting.

How to plant gooseberry bushes

Potted gooseberry plants

If you’re planting a potted gooseberry bush, then dig your planting hole as deep and a little wider than the pot your plant has arrived in, positioning the pot in the hole once dug to make sure the sizing is about right.

Then, remove the plant from the pot, teasing out the roots a bit if they look pot-bound, and place it in the hole. Backfill with soil, firming it down to remove any pockets of air, and give your plant a good watering.

Bare root gooseberry plants

If you’ve ordered a bare root gooseberry plant, you’ll want to plant it while dormant between the end of autumn and the start of spring. With bare root plants, you’ll first want to give the roots a soak in water for between half an hour and an hour. This will give them a chance to rehydrate before planting.

Dig your planting hole nice and wide to give the plant’s roots room to grow outwards, and depth-wise, dig the hole as deep as the ‘tide’ mark on your bare root plant (the point at which you can see where the plant was previously below ground). Sprinkle some Rootgrow into the planting hole, position your bare root plant in the hole and fill with soil. Firm in the soil and water well.

Caring for your gooseberry plant

Easy to grow and low-maintenance, your gooseberry bush doesn’t need a huge amount of attention once it’s in the ground. Just stick to the following tips and your gooseberry bush will be good as gold (or rather, good as green or red).

Watering

Once established, your gooseberry bush will only need additional watering in hot, dry spells. However, for the first couple of growing seasons, routine watering is recommended just to give your plant the best start possible.

Feeding

An annual feed with a high-potassium fertiliser every spring will help your gooseberry going into the growing season. If you’re growing your gooseberry bush in a container, then feeding your plant throughout spring and summer with something like liquid tomato feed (following the manufacturer’s instructions) works well.

Pruning

Giving your gooseberry bush a yearly prune can help keep it healthy and productive, and mitigate against problems like powdery mildews. Your aim should be to create a goblet-shaped bush with an open, airy framework of branches. This pruning should take place in winter. Check out the Royal Horticultural Society’s brilliant breakdown of how to prune gooseberry plants, including fan and cordon forms.

Harvesting and storing your gooseberries

Your gooseberries are ready to harvest when they’re plump and soft – this is usually in July or August. Take care not to bruise your fruit and, if you’ve got a plentiful harvest, consider using several smaller containers rather than one big one so as not to squish the berries at the base of the container. When stored in the fridge, gooseberries will keep for roughly a fortnight, while they can last in the freezer for up to a year.

How to use your gooseberries

Once you’ve got your delicious harvest of gooseberries, it’s time to put them to use. Your first option is, of course, simply to pop them in your mouth and eat them fresh. You can also use them in desserts, however, with gooseberry fool, crumble and cake all being good choices. Incorporating them into chutneys, ketchups and salads is also something you might want to try.

Final thoughts

Gooseberries are real gems, and hopefully, having read this guide, you’ll be able to see that for yourself by growing them in your own garden. We love them, Anton Chekhov loved them, and we know that you’ll love them. So, what are you waiting for? Get growing your gooseberries, today!