How to Prepare a Blueberry Plant for Winter

Since blueberry cultivars come with different degrees of hardiness, start by selecting a bush hardy to your region's winters. If you can find out from the county cooperative extension office or local nursery how often a killing frost hits your zone and the lowest temperature whenever that happens, buy a blueberry bush hardy to that temperature. If all you have is your region's hardiness zone according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, get a shrub hardy to one zone below yours. Once you have the right plant, winterize it for good measure.

10-20-10 azalea fertilizer
Bark mulch

Instructions

- 1
  Fertilize blueberries in spring if possible. To harden the shrub off for the winter, do not feed the bushes past the last day in July. Give the plants an acidic formula designed for azaleas with a 10-20-10 analysis. Apply 2 tbsp. per newly planted bush when it becomes established -- it shows continuous growth. Broadcast the nutrient around the base of the blueberry shrub. Keep it from touching the plant. Water the product in. Give one-year and older blueberries 1 oz. fertilizer for every year the plant is old for a maximum of 8 oz. Feed the plants in early spring. Repeat the fertilization in early June.
- 2
  Install a 4-inch-deep layer of bark mulch around each blueberry bush. Extend it 1 foot beyond the plant's drip line, the reach of its outermost branch. The mulch protects the roots from heaving caused by fluctuating temperatures. Rake and discard the bark in spring to prevent overwintering pests from attacking the plants.
- 3
  Water blueberry bushes to the root zone in any winter month when there is no snow cover.

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