Q: I bought a dessert gooseberry, Hinnonmaki Red, from a very reputable plant centre last November and it thrived until recently. It came into leaf and bloomed well, small gooseberries started to form and suddenly they went black and the leaves withered and some fell off although they were still green.

Q: I bought a dessert gooseberry, Hinnonmaki Red, from a very reputable plant centre last November and it thrived until recently. It came into leaf and bloomed well, small gooseberries started to form and suddenly they went black and the leaves withered and some fell off although they were still green. I took it back to the garden centre but they are quite baffled by it. It was not a cheap plant and I am very puzzled. Can you help please? I have dug it up to have a look at the roots but all seems OK so I have planted it into a large pot. B Ford Email

A: The problem with your plant is most likely to be down to the unusual weather we have had this spring. I would recommend leaving it alone and it will recover next year. 'Hinnonmaki' is a variety that is resistant to mildew, the traditional problem with gooseberries. The ideal time for planting gooseberries is in the autumn. Prepare the soil thoroughly in your selected sunny, sheltered site. Fork over a wide area to break up the soil and remove weeds, then dig out a planting hole. Fork some compost or rotted manure into the soil at the base, along with a handful of granular or pelleted general-purpose fertiliser.

Plant bare-rooted bushes by spreading their roots out in the hole and covering with well-conditioned soil. Firm the soil down around the roots. With container-grown bushes, keep the surface of the rootball compost level with the surrounding soil surface. Space cordons 30cm to 45cm (12in to 18in) apart and bushes at least 1.2m (4ft) apart to allow access for picking.

Keep plants well watered until established, and cover the soil around them with a 5cm to 7.5cm (2in to 3in) thick mulch of compost or bark.

Start thinning gooseberries during late May or early June removing about half the crop. The fruits from this first harvest can be used for cooking. This will give a longer cropping season and leaves others more room to grow to a larger size. The second harvest can be done a few weeks later, and many of the fruits will be packed full of natural sugar and taste delicious.

Look out for gooseberry sawfly from late spring onwards. Check leaves regularly for caterpillar damage and control by hand. If this is proving hard, spray bushes regularly with an insecticide. Always try to grow varieties resistant to mildew.

Never let plants go short of water when their fruits are swelling and ripening. Heavy watering after a drought can cause fruits to split and rot.

If you aren't growing your gooseberries in a fruit cage, cover bushes with netting during June and July to keep off birds. Ensure it is weighted down at the base to prevent blackbirds getting underneath.

Hungry bullfinches feed on the gooseberry buds in winter, so use netting to keep them at bay. Also delay pruning until the buds have started to grow in April. Thick growth helps to keep the birds away and you can be sure of pruning back to a living bud.

Standard gooseberries make excellent plants for tubs. Choose a pot 35cm (14in) deep and wide and fill with a loam-based compost. Healthy shoots can be cut in autumn and early winter to use as hardwood cuttings which can be used to raise new bushes.

Wear gloves and long sleeves when harvesting the fruit to protect hands and arms from the sharp thorns.

Q: Can you help please, about 5-years ago I purchased 6-dwarf family apple trees [3-varieties on one tree] .Last year one of them developed a fungal/mildew problem on the underside of most of its branches & this year it has spread to the other trees.

I have tried treating the trees with Dithane, but it's had little affect on the problem. Can you please advise what I can do to overcome the problem? R Burnham email

A: The first thing to do is to check that it is a fungus, as it is most likely to be woolly aphid. The woolly aphid (eriosoma lanigerum) appears in the spring on the bark of some fruit trees - it is common around bark which has not been cleanly pruned. The aphids are covered in a waxy substance which makes them look like a fungus or mould. If you rub your finger over them, the aphids will be crushed and wet, which is the proof that it is not mould. The waxy coating makes them difficult to treat with sprays.

Where the pests are ignored, the bark will develop lumps (noticeable in winter) which may split in frosty periods, leaving the tree open to apple canker

If the aphids are noticed early, simply paint them with methylated spirits, or scrape them off individually. If they are ignored and larger areas are infected, spray with derris (available from most garden centres). Failing this, cut the resulting lumps out from the bark.

Should it be mildew you will see a dry whitish powder coating leaves, shoot tips and often flowers is especially visible in summer.

Other symptoms include stunted and distorted growth, and reduced flowering. Many garden plants are affected, both woody and herbaceous, particularly apple trees, roses and sweet peas and those growing in containers. Vegetable foliage is also prone, including beetroot, parsnip and spinach.

Powdery mildews are caused by a range of closely related fungal species. As each has a limited host range the powdery mildew affecting one plant is unlikely to be responsible for mildew on another species. However some mildews can spread to cultivated plants from closely related weed hosts, so weed control is an important part of disease limitation.

The following measures will reduce susceptibility to the disease:

Keep plants well watered, so they are not dry at the roots mulch to preserve soil moisture. Improve air-flow around plants to reduce humidity. For woody plants such as roses this can be achieved by pruning to establish an open branch structure. Avoid overcrowding smaller plants. Thin vegetable crops to recommended spacing.

Avoid high nitrogen fertilisers, as these encourage soft sappy growth that is more easily colonised by fungi. Ensure plants are in their ideal position. For example, a sun-lover will struggle in shade and be at greater risk of infection. Check catalogues and grow resistant varieties wherever possible.

Prune out infected areas as soon as seen. Collect and burn or otherwise dispose of all infected debris and prunings.

Fungicides available to the home gardener for powdery mildew control are myclobutanil (available as various products and formulations, including Systhane Fungus Fighter (liquid concentrate), Fungus Fighter (ready-to-use spray) and Roseclear 3 (which also contains an insecticide for pest control), penconazole (Fungus Clear), and sulphur as a dust (Vitax Green or Yellow Sulphur) or as a spray with fatty acids (Nature's Answer Natural Pest and Disease Control).

The choice is complicated because pesticides may only legally be used on the range of plants specified on the label.

For ornamental plants, including roses, use myclobutanil, penconazole or sulphur.

For some specified fruits including apple and gooseberry, use myclobutanil (only as the liquid concentrate Systhane Fungus Fighter) or sulphur dust.

Only sulphur dusts may be used on vines. It may also be possible to treat certain vegetable crops with sulphur dusts (check labels).

Check the labels carefully before choosing a product. Occasionally, the label will also list certain cultivars that may be damaged by the application of a specific fungicide; e.g. certain gooseberry and apple cultivars may be damaged by sulphur dusts.

If no pest problems are present on the plants to be treated, avoid the unnecessary use of a product which also contains an insecticide.