One of my earliest memories in the garden as a child was devouring berries, of all kinds, that my parents grew in our garden. Like growing most edibles, there is something a little extra satisfying about cultivating and then harvesting treats like blueberries and even sharing them with friends and neighbors.
Blueberries are known as a “superfood” and offer excellent sources of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Manganese, Vitamin K and other nutrients. They are loaded with both fiber and antioxidants and offer us a low-calorie healthy option to snack on. Add in fabulous taste and one can understand why blueberries are so popular. We have the ideal climate to grow these plants and everyone should have some blueberries incorporated into their home landscapes.
Blueberries love acidic soil, moisture, and summer sunshine - all of which our locale provides. If you are adding new plants, choose a location with plenty of sun and test your soil pH to make sure your site is acidic (ideally with a soil pH in the 4.5 to 5.5 range). Soil should contain lots of organic matter, so new plantings should be amended with acidic planting mix, compost, bark, and/or manure to richen the soil structure. All blueberries should be mulched heavily with bark or compost every spring, including established ones, to keep them thriving. Try utilizing a healthy dose of organic fertilizer when planting, like an acidic-type Rhododendron food, which can be spread around the base and then covered with mulch. A second dose of food, on both older and newer plants, later in May/early June will help as well. This mulching and the two feedings will keep your blueberries thriving and producing tasty berries year after year. In addition, always remember to irrigate them in the dry summer months - a drought stressed blueberry will abort berry development for the summer.
If you have older existing plants, please don’t be bashful with pruning them. Proper pruning of blueberries is all about thinning – look at the multi-stem crown and remove the oldest hunks of wood at ground level, freeing up room for fresh wood to sucker off of the root system and maximize production year after year. Be care not to shear or head them back, as production occurs on one-year-old wood and you would be eliminating or greatly reducing your crop.
When it comes to varietal choices, keep in mind these options and basic information, and absolutely explore the many other worthy choices that are available.
Northern Highbush: These traditional, larger growers (like ones on a U-Pick farm) come in lots of varieties, each offering size, flavor and ripening time options. Keep in mind that you need two varieties that are of the same ripening season to cross pollinate – check your choices for Early, Mid or Late flavors. They all get spectacular fall colors, produce heavy crops when grown the right way, and are easy-to-grow backyard options. There are even some pink-berried flavors like ‘Pink Popcorn’ and ‘Pink Lemonade’ (hybrid highbush varieties) with super sweet berries.
Lowbush: Think of these as native-type blueberries. They grow much lower to the ground and have smaller berries, BUT they are packed with even more nutrition and flavor. Great for smaller spaces and the birds will thank you as well for the snacks.
Hybrid Varieties: Lots of exciting choices can be found in this category, often staying more compact than traditional highbush plants. Many of these are excellent candidates for growing in pots too. Look for ones like ‘Bountiful Blue’ and ‘Sunshine Blue’, great looking shrubs for the landscape that produce berries on their own (although one of each will increase your yield for sure). New, later this year, will be ‘Bountiful Baby’, a tidy dwarf with excellent berries to enjoy.
The Bushel and Berry Program: There are some wonderfully useful choices in this series, all of which are more compact, partially self-fertile, and good options for both growing in containers or in the ground. Many of them, like ‘Pink Icing’ and ‘Silver Dollar’, have striking foliage color. Others, like ‘Sapphire Cascade’, even trail and could be used in a hanging basket. Two I have utilized in my own yard are ‘Jelly Bean’ (self-fertile in containers) and ‘Berry Bux’ (a wild-type blueberry that is super tasty).
Visit your local nursery this time of year for maximum choice of these varieties and many other worthy ones as well. Always seek a Professional Horticulturist for advice on selection and growing. It is a great time of year to get blueberries planted and thriving as we head into the spring season. By choosing the right flavors for your landscape and understanding these basics, you can have homegrown berries right in your very own backyard!
