Growing Currants and Gooseberries

These long-lived fruit bushes can earn a place in a small food garden, but they need room to pick and prune. Choose the fruit you will use, then match its growth habit to the space.

By Simon Adams · Updated 25 October 2026

Choose the fruit and the form

Blackcurrants suit a permanent bush planting; redcurrants, whitecurrants and gooseberries can also be trained as narrow cordons or fans. A cordon is a main stem with short fruiting side-shoots, supported and pruned to keep it narrow. Buy the appropriate form rather than expecting an unmanaged bush to stay small.

For gooseberries, decide between dessert fruit for eating ripe and culinary varieties for cooking. Consider disease resistance and the room needed around thorny branches. Mark the mature spread on your plan, including access inside any fruit cage.

Prepare the site and plant carefully

Choose moisture-retentive but well-drained soil in sun or light shade. A sheltered position helps protect gooseberry branches; avoid frost pockets where spring flowers are vulnerable. Bare-root plants are normally planted while dormant, from autumn to early spring in the UK. Wait if soil is frozen or waterlogged.

Plant ordinary blackcurrant bushes about 5cm deeper than the previous soil mark to encourage basal shoots. Standard-trained blackcurrants are an exception: keep their original depth and provide support. Newly planted dormant blackcurrant bushes also need initial pruning; follow the linked crop guidance rather than applying established-bush pruning.

Gooseberries should stay at their original planting depth. A bush commonly needs 1.2–1.5m spacing; trained forms differ. Follow the nursery’s instructions for the specific form and variety. Water in and label each plant.

Prune blackcurrants for replacement growth

Blackcurrants benefit from young replacement stems. On established bushes about four years old or more, remove up to a third of the oldest stems at the base in winter, retaining strong younger growth. Young plants require different treatment. Do not simply shorten every branch tip each year.

Keep a framework on redcurrants and whitecurrants

These fruit on short spurs on older wood and at the base of the previous year’s shoots. Keep an open structure and remove dead, damaged, crossing or congested growth. The main branches can remain productive for several years, so do not copy the blackcurrant renewal routine indiscriminately.

Bushes are pruned while dormant; restricted forms such as cordons also need summer pruning. Use the form-specific instructions below before shortening leaders or side-shoots.

Make gooseberries easier to pick

Use thorn-resistant gloves and keep the centre accessible. Prune bushes in late winter to remove congestion and maintain well-spaced branches. Summer and winter spur pruning is another method for fewer, larger berries; cordons and fans need their own training routine. Decide on the form first, then follow one consistent method.

Care for the crop

Water establishing plants during dry spells and check container compost regularly. Mulch the surrounding soil without piling material against stems. Protect ripening currants from birds using a secure fruit cage or suitable netting, checked for trapped wildlife.

Keep notes on ripening dates, flavour, bird losses and how much fruit you used. That will show whether your next plant should extend the season or provide more of a crop you already enjoy.