How to Prune & Care for Blueberries

Care

• 1

  Water your blueberry bushes using a drip irrigation or soaker hose for best results. Alternatively, you can water the blueberries once or twice each week when rainfall is less than 1 inch, providing water until you've evenly moistened the soil down to and around the roots.

• 2

  Spread a 4-inch-thick layer of mulch on the ground around your blueberry bushes to preserve soil moisture and keep weeds at bay. Apply more mulch each year in the spring to maintain the 4-inch-thick layer.

• 3

  Feed your newly planted blueberry bushes 1 tbsp. of balanced azalea fertilizer formula after the first leaves have grown to their full size. Spread the fertilizer in a circle on the ground around the blueberry bush, keeping the fertilizer about 1 foot away from the plant. Repeat the fertilizer application once every six weeks until August. In the second year, follow the same application schedule, but double the fertilizer dosage and widen the circle around the bushes to 1 1/2 feet.

• 4

  Feed established blueberry bushes once each year in spring when new growth shows with 1 cup of balanced NPK fertilizer. Apply the fertilizer in a circle around each blueberry shrub, keeping the ring about 3 feet away from the bush. Side-dress the blueberries with 1/4-cup of ammonium nitrate once every six weeks from spring until early July.

• 5

  Remove weeds from around your blueberries by hand-pulling them or hoeing shallowly around the plants. Avoid hoeing more than 1 inch deep into the soil to prevent damage to the shallow roots.

Pruning

• 6

  Remove all the flower buds as they emerge during the first two years after planting young blueberry bushes. Doing so will direct more energy into healthy plant growth, particularly of the roots and branches.

• 7

  Prune established blueberry bushes during late fall until late winter or early spring, when the plants aren't actively growing and are dormant. During the first four or five years after planting, prune away all dead, damaged, weak or spindly growth, as well as all the lower "twiggy" growth. Prune back the tips of all long shoots to encourage healthy branching.

• 8

  Prune away all dead or weakened growth, as well as all branches that are thinner than a pencil beginning in the fourth or fifth year after planting. Remove all shoots and branches growing in the center of the blueberry bush, as well as all low branches and old branches that no longer produce flowers or fruits.

• 9

  Select six to eight productive branches on each blueberry bush after the plant begins to bear fruits. Prune away all other branches. Cut back all long-fruiting branches to allow only four to six flower buds remaining. Do this every year during the dormant season.