Planting guide

When to plant gooseberry

Tart cool-climate berries on a compact thorny bush; great for pies and jams. In Melbourne it goes in Jun–Aug.

Start as: Potted plant or Bare-root plant
Ready in: 2+ years to the first crop
Spacing: 120 cm
Depth: 0 cm
Sun: Half a day (3–6 hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means gooseberry can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Melbourne	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Brisbane	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Perth	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Adelaide	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Gold Coast	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Newcastle	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Central Coast	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Geelong	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Wollongong	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Townsville	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Darwin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Mandurah	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Bendigo	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Mackay	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Bunbury	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Bundaberg	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Mildura	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Wellington	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
London	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Manchester	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Edinburgh	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
New York City	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Chicago	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Austin	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Toronto	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Johannesburg	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Singapore	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mumbai	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Paris	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Berlin	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant gooseberry

Plant bare-root in winter in part shade.
Mulch to keep roots cool and moist.
Prune to an open goblet shape.
Pick tart when green for cooking, ripe for eating.

Gooseberry varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Captivator Classicthornless · disease-resistant · 13–17 wksAlmost thornless, sweet red fruit
Invicta Classicheavy-cropper · disease-resistant · 13–17 wksHeavy-cropping green fruit
Hinnonmaki Red Adventuroussweet · 13–17 wksRed, sweet

Where to buy seedlings

Search on QP Seedlings Search on Amazon

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Garlic, Chive, Onion

Gooseberry by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Strawberry · Blueberry · Raspberry · Blackberry & boysenberry · Currant

Not sure gooseberry is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now