The main ways of planting gooseberries
Today, perhaps, you will not meet a single gardener who would not have the desire or planted more than a couple of bushes of tasty and very healthy gooseberries on his personal plot. After all, gooseberries contain a lot of vitamins A and C, they are perfectly stored, transported and suitable both for consumption in their raw form, and are also excellent raw materials for jam and all kinds of medicinal infusions. Ripe sweet and sour berries are loved by both adults and children.
To achieve high yields from one gooseberry bush within fifteen to twenty kilograms of berries, you need to know the features of its planting and seating in order to reproduce.
Gooseberry features
- He loves moisture very much, he is picky about its sufficient amount, both in summer, especially when the ovary is formed, and in autumn, when the maximum growth of young shoots of the bush is achieved.
Despite the required moisture, the gooseberry reacts very badly to stagnant water, therefore, in swampy low-lying areas, it does not take root well, gets sick and as a result gives very scanty harvests. - The gooseberry is not a very picky crop in relation to the quality of the soil, but the more fertile and drained it is, the more grateful the crop will be.
- Gooseberry loves sunlight and an area without wind drafts.
- If the planting site is ideal for the gooseberry bush, then it will grow without any problems and please the eye with large berries, usually in favorable conditions the bush can grow up to fifteen years, if properly looked after.
- Gooseberry planting can be carried out both in autumn and spring.
The right place to plant gooseberries
For planting gooseberry seedlings, flat areas, not shaded areas, are excellent.
Gooseberry bushes can be planted both along the fence fence and within the garden area of the site, only it should be remembered that the bushes tend to grow very much, a gap of several meters must be left between them and the hedge.
Do not plant gooseberries very close to trees, as lack of sunlight leads to diseases such as powdery mildew, when the berries become covered with black spots.
Several basic methods for planting gooseberries correctly
Despite the fact that gooseberries are pliable for transplanting both in autumn and spring, experienced gardeners prefer the autumn period.
An excellent planting time is the end of September - the beginning of October, but at the same time they are strictly guided by the weather forecast, since you need to have time to plant gooseberries two weeks before the onset of the first frost.
During this time, young seedlings manage to take root and get a little stronger, due to which they winter well and actively develop into young fertile bushes in spring.
Spring is less effective in terms of planting gooseberries, but, nevertheless, many gardeners plant seedlings before the beginning of April - at a time when the buds have not yet begun to bloom, and the plant itself is in a state of vegetation dormancy.
Large perennial bushes serve as the basis for reproduction, the quality of seedlings directly depends on their condition and health.
They should be carefully looked after and do not skip the pruning of old, dry, diseased branches, this is done in the fall. Thinning the bushes gives the plant the strength to expel new and prolific shoots in the spring.
How to plant gooseberries in the fall?
For planting gooseberries in the fall, the method of dividing the bush is used. This method makes it possible for the seedlings, separated from the main rhizome, to take root perfectly and in the spring to release new shoots with renewed vigor.
Dividing a bush is a great way to plant gooseberries and transplant existing bushes into areas that are more favorable for its growth.
The division of the gooseberry bush is carried out in stages:
- a cut-off bush from unnecessary branches is dug in from all sides, they do not dig in gooseberries at the very base, but they retreat from it about thirty centimeters and do an action in a circle, if old roots fall under the shovel, then they should be chopped off with an ax;
- the dug-out bush is removed from the ground with a shovel and scrap metal and placed on a prepared film;
- after evaluating the condition of the root system, the bush is divided into parts so that each of them has a main root and appendages to it;
- prepared seedlings are planted in prepared pits no more than fifty centimeters deep, pre-filled with water, the gooseberry planted on top at the base is covered with mulch.
How to plant gooseberries in spring?
The spring period is favorable for planting gooseberries with the help of formed layering, for this one-year or two-year branches of the gooseberry bush are buried in the ground in order to root them. Moreover, the rooted layers can be separated only next spring, when their root system is fully formed.
There are three methods of forming layering:
- horizontal;
- arcuate;
- vertical.
An equally effective spring way of planting gooseberries is propagation by cuttings. For the formation of cuttings, woody branches are selected, the prepared planting material is planted in the ground at an angle.
Knowing the basic ways of correctly planting gooseberries, you can safely take on the rejuvenation of your garden.