How to Plant a Highbush Blueberry

Select a full sun planting site that is protected from the wind by woodland surroundings and is weed free. Prepare the surrounding soil so that it is moist, well-drained and slightly acidic to a pH level between 4.5 to 5.1. Add sulfur or aluminum sulfate to lower the pH and add wet peat moss to raise it. A soil test will be helpful to make this determination if you are at all unfamiliar with the soil.

Prepare a planting hole that is twice the diameter and 50 percent deeper than the plant's current container. Loosen the soil at the bottom of the hole to support root spread. Slide the blueberry out of its pot on its side and gently unfurl any roots that are circling the root ball to encourage outward growth into the soil. Place the blueberry in the hole, adding soil under the root ball so that the established soil line on the main branch is level with the surrounding soil. Back fill soil around the roots to fill the hole. Press down with the palm of your hand or tamp with your foot to collapse any air pockets and ensure good soil to root contact.

Water in your highbush blueberry well and maintain a consistently moist but not wet soil. Monitor it carefully for a few weeks to learn the moisture absorption rate of the surrounding soil, which will help you establish a watering regime.

Lay a three- to six-inch layer of organic mulch around the base of blueberry after watering, to prevent moisture evaporation and reduce weeds. Bark, wood chips or shavings, pine needles, or composted leaves are ideal. Lay fresh mulch as the old layer deteriorates and is absorbed into the soil.

Fertilize your highbush blueberry about a month after planting. Apply a few ounces of balanced fertilizer, such as a 10-10-10, about 16 inches out from the base of the plant all the way around the plant. Other organic fertilizer options would be bloodmeal or composted or aged manure. Apply any of them in the same circular pattern of 16 inches out from the base. Fertilize with the same formula a year later, in half in the early spring and in the second half six to eight weeks later. Blueberries are not heavy feeders so over fertilization can backfire.