When is the best time to move blackcurrant bushes?

I have a large retaining wall as my front garden which elevates 1m + off the pavement. I have three black currant bushes and gooseberries I grow as my hedge, and silly me didn't think that every person walking by would feel entitled to strip the bushes, leaving nothing for me who bought, waters, and feeds them

I honestly wouldn't mind feeding anyone that came to my door hungry, and I also wouldn't mind people taking a few, especially those with kids - I think that's cute. But grown adult couples breaking branches taking fruit that isn't even ripe is grinding my gears.

Do black currant bushes mind being moved? If so, when is the best time to do it? Sadly they're planted quite close together, and I feel it's going to damage roots.

Any advice appreciated! - I'm a very novice gardener, so even if you think it's the obvious - it probably isn't to me - so mention it!

 

They don’t mind being moved if they are asleep. Frost free winter days are the best.

I get no black currants because the pigeons, the squirrels and the badgers help themselves. From three mature bushes I got 1lb of jam this year.

I don’t like netting things, having had some sad experiences with dead birds in the past.

 

Would you go for like early winter on this side of December, or next year?

Aw that's a shame. I've never used nets, but wouldn't have even considered birds might be a casualty of them.

 

Any time that the bushes are dormant and the weather is mild and not forecast to be frosty would be fine.

Yes, baby sparrows strangled in netting are not what the gardening programmes show much.

 

They transplant well, especially if they are still young and you can get most of the roots out. We move ours in the late autumn but you have any time from then until spring. I prefer the autumn because it gives the roots more time to start developing in warm soil before the winter kicks in.

 

Its easy to take blackcurrant cuttings to root in soil. This would provide an insurance lest your transplanting fails. If you know the thieves, you could also embarass them by gifting cuttings 'to grow their own' !!

 

Would a polite sign help? Or one informing the miscreants that the plants have been sprayed with a fungicide or something worse .

 

Like "Get your botulism here" maybe!

 

You could try a temporary line of netting between the fruit and the road to deter people. I think most normal people would see that and realise they arent supposed to scrump. Doesn't need to be anything fancy, just a few canes and some net. You could add a you are on cctv sign for extra measures.

We always stool layer are currant and gooseberry bushes because it's more reliable than cuttings and you get bigger fruiting plants quicker (we dont cut them down to the ground, rather just mound them up over the year and remove rooted branches). It won't work if you are moving them at the end of the year but it would be method to think off if you want to try other options first.