What do your gooseberry plants look like now?

[deplorabelle]

Last autumn I put in two bare root gooseberry plants. They were from a reputable supplier and I kind of know what I'm doing, so they should be fine but my goodness they still look like bare twigs of brown crispy deadness.

Do your gooseberries have leaves yet? How long should I wait before starting to fear I've cocked up and these long planned-for plants are not going to grow?

Mine are just budding up now. By contrast, the blackcurrant's buds are opening so they are a bit behind.

It's worth noting though that it took until their second summer to put out a reasonable harvest. I didn't get many at all in the first year so you may need to persevere!

I asked the same question on an allotment page I'm on. I planted a potted gooseberry in autumn and it's currently still just a really spiky twig! Someone said to scrape a bit of the stem and if it's green underneath it should hopefully still grow! My blackberry, blueberries, and raspberries have started budding but the grapevine hasn't done anything yet either!

Thank you both. It's good to know other people have dry twigs too. I keep being tempted to scrape a stem but with the freezing temperatures it seems a bit mean on my plants when I'm probably just being impatient.

I'm used to waiting for harvests - my quince tree took four or five years to really get going so I know not to expect too much thanks. Maybe just to see some little leaves by the end of the month? 🙏

It may depend where in the country you are? I'm in the SE and just have buds beginning.

I'm in the Thames valley so frostier and further inland than most of the proper south east but I used to garden much further north. Maybe I had more patience then 🙂

I'm further north in the Shires and my gooseberry bush is budding, even though the hedge is more of a wish and a promise, and we have a south westerly wind.

Is it new Giggorata? I think I could possibly have buds on the red one. The green one still playing dead...

I've got a red one and a green one, the red is still bare and the green has got little leaves showing. They're both quite old. (Yorkshire)

Yes deplorabelle, it is new, how did you guess? Do they behave differently from older established plants? It has endured its first winter in its place. It is about 2 feet tall.

I was assuming new plants might be slightly slower so yours is doing really well.

I've just been out to have a proper look. I have 2 plants - one green one red. The green one has leaves but the red one is just buds, and these are only evident in close inspection - from a glance it looks like twigs. Mine are 2-3 yrs (can't remember which). Hang in there.
1st pic is green, 2nd is red.

Just checked my gooseberries - they have buds but not all open yet. They're about 9-10 years old & have both red & green - no discernible difference in growth between the too. All need pruning though!

Oh & I'm in the SW.

Oh thank you that's closer to what mine look like 🙂