How Soon After a Transplant Can You Prune a Blueberry Bush?

Pruning at Transplant

• Young blueberry bushes transplanted into their permanent location require pruning at the time of transplant. Pruning is especially important if container-grown plants were fairly rootbound and roots injured in the transplanting process. At the time of planting, remove between 1/3 and 1/2 off the top of plants. Additionally, prune any weak growth near the bottom and any flower-bearing side branches. Remove all flower buds by pruning or rubbing them off.

Pruning Young Plants

• During the first few years following transplant, encourage vegetative growth and develop a proper shape. On second-year plants, remove any weak, diseased or damaged wood and remove flowers from nonvigorous or weak plants. Prune any low, horizontally growing or weak canes, and remove all flower clusters during the second year. Leave a few flower clusters during the third year pruning. Prune before flowering and fruit set.

Pruning Bearing Plants

• After the third year following transplant, prune blueberry bushes annually in winter or early spring when the plant is fully dormant. During this annual pruning, remove any diseased, weak or low-growing canes. Heading back any especially vigorous shoots keeps the bush from growing too tall. Systematically thin short, thin shoots, leaving ample thick shoots to bear fruit. Certain blueberry cultivars also benefit from having shoots cut back so that only three or four fruit buds remain per shoot.

Renewal Pruning

• Give older or overgrown blueberry bushes a renewal, or rejuvenation, pruning. Blueberry bushes often reach their productive peak between 6 and 10 years following transplant. Renewal pruning helps extend this high-yield period. Remove weak or diseased canes entirely or cut them back to a strong lateral branch within a few feet of the ground. This type pruning results in a reduced yield for a few years, but the bushes bear additional good crops.