As far as I am aware they are not fussy.[Tough if they are in my garden :o)] I have 2 in general garden soil, that gets some sun for half a day. I prune it every other year to keep the shurb 'open'. Every spring I give the soil a light dusting of Fish blood and bonemeal as a feed. Other than that I keep an eye out for sawfly caterpillars in early june onwards.

I feed with sulphate of potash in February. I prune twice a year - once after fruiting, just tipping back the longer new growths, and again in late Feb or early March, tipping back the leaders and cutting the laterals back to no more than half a dozen buds. And as Sbg says, removing any crossing branches to keep an open shape. So far this has produced heavy crops. As well as sawfly caterpillars watch out for American blight unless your variety is immune. If it isn't treated straight away it rampages over the whole bush in no time. Neither blight nor sawfly damages the plant for the following year so if the worst happens don't despair.

I kept my Gooseberry bushes on a single stem for 20 years after seeing one in a garden in Germany with a stem as thick as my arm. Had good crops but couldnt eradicate the blight, so they had to go.

I've tried them as a three stemmed cordon against the garage wall and it was very successful, and they are easier to pick too. There are a few blight free varieties now Diane so it might be worth trying again. I think Greenfinch is one of them.