Gooseberries

Could anyone tell me the correct way to grow a gooseberry bush. I have 5 on the allotment growing as bushes close to the ground, one of my allotment colleagues tells me that this is the wrong way to grow them. He tells me that they should be grown up on one stem approx 12�high and then as a bush.??

Thanks
David

 

Gooseberries are a bit prone to mildiew so the only real thing id advise is to thin them out a bit to ensure a decent amount of air flow. Also make sure that you keep them well watered in dry weather. They seem to be worse the next year if they get dry, probably because they were under stress. I havnt heard of growing them up a stem but my guess is that it is to improve air flow around them so it might make sense. If you are getting decent crops i wouldnt worry about the right or wrong way to do it.

 

I don't know how well this shows up but its what I call my gooseberry tree