Permascaping, by Homegrown Foods

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Place the trees you have, see every currants & gooseberries at mature size on your map, and order from the plan.

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3 varietiesComparison chart

Red Lake Currant — the fruit
The fruit

Currants & gooseberries · Dave Wilson Nursery

Red Lake Currant

A tart-sweet red currant that hangs in long loose clusters, very productive and winter hardy, and rated by many as the best red currant. Arizona extension lists it for the state's mid elevations, and Arizona is a low-risk area for pine blister rust. It needs cool summers, so it is a mid elevation and high country plant, with afternoon shade at lower sites.

Chill hours
800–1200 hours
Harvest
July at mid elevation; July to August in the high country
Pollination
Self-fruitful
Mature size
4–5 ft tall and wide; hold at 4 ft by cutting out old canes

Which one

Every currants & gooseberrie side by side

Same fruit, different seasons and different jobs. Pick the row that fits your ground and your calendar.

A tart-sweet red currant that hangs in long loose clusters, very productive and winter hardy, and rated by many as the best red currant. Arizona extension lists it for the state's mid elevations, and Arizona is a low-risk area for pine blister rust. It needs cool summers, so it is a mid elevation and high country plant, with afternoon shade at lower sites.A gooseberry you can eat off the bush: large, sweet, deep purple berries that look like blueberries when fully ripe, on a bush that resists mildew and winter cold. Gooseberries are native to Arizona's mountains and want cool summers, so plant it at mid elevation or in the high country with afternoon shade, and wear gloves for the thorns. Not a low desert plant.A medium red gooseberry with a slightly tangy skin and very sweet flesh, on an upright bush that resists mildew. Of the Ribes here it is the one rated for warmer winters, but summer heat is still the limit, so grow it at mid elevation or in the high country, out of the afternoon sun. Wear gloves, since the stems are thorny.
HarvestJuly at mid elevation; July to August in the high countryJuly to August at mid elevation and in the high countryJuly to August at mid elevation and in the high country
Chill hours800–1200 hours800–1200 hours600–1000 hours
PollinationSelf-fruitfulSelf-fruitfulSelf-fruitful
Mature size4–5 ft tall and wide; hold at 4 ft by cutting out old canes3–4 ft tall and wide; easy to hold at 3 ft with winter pruning3–4 ft tall and wide, upright; easy to hold at 3 ft with pruning
From$15$15$15

Where this tree sits

Currants & gooseberries sit in the understory & shrubs layer.

Understory & shrubs

Woody plants at head height and below — figs, pomegranates, currants, berries. They fill the gap between trunk and ground.