gooseberries...the dilema

hello one an all, just bought my first house (escape from my parents!!) an very close to starting planning the garden etc. i made an impulse buy of some red gooseberry bushes last week, i looked at them yesterday an they have both started to sprout (i had left them inside my house) at the moment the weather in the North West isnt too warm so i dotn really want to plant them outside an risk the weather damaging the new shoots or will they be ok?

what should i do?

 

is there any middle ground, your right to think current weather will damage new shoots, but if there bigish plants they will bounce back, very small (mail order/lidle) style plants MAY not bounce back although even they probably will. You dont really want to keep them warm for too long either, that will lead to weak stretchy new shoots. Try to find a middle ground and if the shoots do get stragly pich them back to the first leaf when planting.

 

Put them outside but in the most sheltered position you have.

Although you may not know it you are about to give them a good prune so dont expect a heavy crop this year. So you will be pruning out a lot of those shoots anyway

 

yes mine are small (wilko plants) im a just a bit concerend that they will die a very frosty death if i put them outside....

thanks for the info, i will keep you up dated how they get on


thanks!

 

iw uld keep in a shelters spot then, although goosberries are 100% hardy, some of these smalll shrubs have been quick grown in a very sheltered environment therefore the wood isnt very ripe...I would even advocate potting into a slightly larger pot in compost and plant out when it fills that pot a little (end of june ish of course planting in summer means keeping it watered). This would be particularly worthwhile if your gareen soil isnt spot on.