Planting Gooseberry
Gooseberry is a cool season fruit in the Grossulariaceae family. Getting the timing right is the difference between a strong stand and a disappointing one, so the windows below are given relative to your own last spring frost and first fall frost rather than a generic calendar date. Look up your local frost dates and count back or forward from there.
Transplant young plants outdoors 2–4 weeks before your last frost — Gooseberry tolerates cool conditions and benefits from an early start.
Spacing and Planting Depth
Give Gooseberry room to mature. The figures below come from verified extension and seed-supplier data for typical varieties.
| Spacing in row | 48 inches |
|---|---|
| Row spacing | 72 inches |
| Plants per sq ft | 0.04 |
| Planting depth | 2 inches |
| Sun requirement | Partial sun |
Plan a square-foot bed with Gooseberry →
Calculate plants in a bed for Gooseberry →
Days to Maturity
Gooseberry reaches maturity in 365–730 days from sowing.
Gooseberry is ready to harvest after about 548 days. Harvest before summer heat or, for fall crops, before a hard freeze, to keep quality high.
Conditions and Care
As a cool-season fruit, Gooseberry does its best growing in the cooler weather of spring and fall and tends to bolt or turn bitter in summer heat. It is frost hardy and can shrug off light freezes, so it can stay in the ground later into the season than tender crops.
Gooseberry grows well in partial sun and tolerates some afternoon shade, which can help slow bolting in warm weather. Sow seed about 2 inches deep, then keep the soil evenly moist until seedlings establish.
Gooseberry belongs to the Grossulariaceae family; rotating where you grow members of this family each year helps limit the build-up of soil-borne pests and disease. Gooseberry is generally grown as a single planting each season rather than succession sown.
See Gooseberry in the full planting calendar for your ZIP →
Plan crop rotation for Grossulariaceae →
Growing Notes
Perennial shrub; first crop year 1-2.
Related Crops
Other crops you might grow alongside or instead of Gooseberry.
In the same family
Gooseberry is in the Grossulariaceae family. Other Grossulariaceae crops in the Gardenable database:
Similar growing requirements
Crops with similar season and time to maturity — useful if you want a diverse garden on a similar schedule: