Dying gooseberry bush

General tips / questions on seeding & planting

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Primrose
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Not a good photo but can anybody suggest why half of this gooseberry bush has died over the past three weeks?. The entire bush has been affected with leaf curl this spring but other branches with small fruits on still look healthy. The bush is about 15 years old.

Unsure what to do other than keep watering it. should I just cut out the dead branches and wait to see what happens? Are the remaining branches like to die too?
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Stephen
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Hi Primrose
I'm sorry I can't answer your question but you have sympathy from me because two of mine gave up this spring. Luckily, I have plenty of others.
Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
robo
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I've just the opposite ,the guy on the next plot gave me a climbing gooseberry it was some months later when the Bush had quite a few goosberries on it he confessed to giving it to me as he had not had one berry off it in four years this year it is laden
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Primrose
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Well I've now cut off all the dead branches and will wait to see what happens. I've realised now a lot of the leaves have disappeared there is a bluebell clump right down near the bush roots which may have been taking moisture & nourishment from the ground. I will try to winkle it out as it may have contributed to the problem.
Elmigo
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Most things may have already been said, but just in case... 15 years is pretty old for a berry bush so it may be more susceptible to any diseases and fruit production may get lower. My red berries are also about 17 years old and still fruiting, but one of them died and the other is a lot less productive now. I dug them out of my fathers neighbours garden as they were tiling it.

Last year someone gave me two gooseberry bushes in container. They were close to dying too, almost all the leaves dropped and branches started dying while there was fruit on them. The berries were not as juicy and tasty either. There was clearly something wrong. I still don't know what it was but here's what I did:

  • Removed all weeds in the containers (they may cause diseases or take away nutrients)
  • Added layer of fresh compost (maybe this adds a little nutrients and boosts growth)
  • Pruned all dead branches and fruits (means more energy for the branches that are still alive)
  • Added a layer of rough gravel (this to prevent weeds from coming up again and seeing light)
  • Added organic kitchen garden fertilizer (only god knows when the last feeding time was)
  • Took away almost all fruits on it (so the energy is used for growth rather than production)

This is what it looks like this year. After all that it's looking fresh and healthy again:

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The other one looks a lot better but still doesn't look completely healthy again. The branches look strange and I have no idea what else to do about this. Any tips are welcome...

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