There isn’t much that says “summer” more than picking fresh blueberries from the bush for blueberry pancakes, blueberry pies, blueberry jam…the list of foods you can make is nearly endless! But in order to get the most from your blueberry bushes (Vaccinium), you need to prune them properly. Knowing which cuts to make when will help ensure you get the biggest, sweetest berries your bushes can produce.
You need to prune your bushes properly to get juicy blueberries like these!
Photo Credit: Gerald L. Klingaman
Prune suckers that are outside your bush’s footprint.
Photo Credit: Megan Bame
This gardener is pruning out a central branch to open up the middle of the blueberry bush for better fruiting.
Photo Credit: Megan Bame
Remove any old, unproductive wood (dead wood has no buds) in your fine-tune pruning.
Photo Credit: Megan Bame
With that in mind, blueberry growers recommend pruning off a third to a half from the top of the plant and removing the flower buds in your bushes’ first year. Yes, it’s a difficult cut to make, but this sacrifice reduces plant stress during establishment, allowing for maximum root growth. In the plants’ second year, select 3-4 prominent canes to provide the main structure of each bush, pruning back weaker branches. As your bushes mature, the purpose of pruning transitions from establishment to management. Established plants are pruned to produce bigger berries and allow for ease of picking.
As a general rule, it’s best to prune your blueberry bushes in winter, when the branches are bare. Once the leaves have emerged, it’s harder to decide where to cut to accomplish the shape and openness desired.
To get the most from your blueberry bushes, just follow these six pruning steps:
- Prune any branches growing outside the bush’s footprint (or main circumference). Blueberry canes can sprout from below the ground and make what started out as a single-trunked bush look like a multi-trunked plant. While some of these sprouts (often called suckers) will be fine and grow into productive branches, some need to be pruned away so that your blueberry bush’s size doesn’t get out of hand. The “plant footprint” should be a size that can be visualized – about the circumference of a bushel basket, for example. Any canes outside that area should be cut off at ground level.
- Remove any fruiting branches that are growing too close to the ground. Most folks prefer picking their blueberries from the standing position, so unless you have kids or grandchildren to clean off the lower branches for you, prune them off so the plant can send its energy to the more upright branches.
- Remove any crossover branches. These are branches that have grown in such a way that they may rub against one another. This can cause wounds susceptible to disease and insect damage.
- Prune out older wood, particularly dead or diseased canes. Be sure to leave some 1- and 2-year-old wood on the plant. You can often determine the wood’s age visually: The youngest wood is smooth and browner in color, while older wood is often larger in diameter, rougher to the touch and light gray in color.
- Prune to open the canopy. This means taking out some large canes in the middle, and yes, it’s always a difficult cut to make since you’ll likely be removing lots of branches and fruit potential. But rest assured that you’ll be opening up the canopy for sunlight to reach the interior of the bush, so you’ll actually be rewarded with a more productive plant and larger fruit. Once opened up, your bush should have a similar shape but will be more open in the middle.
- Prune to fine-tune. While the other cuts may require loppers, hand pruners should be sufficient for removing thin “matchbook” twigs and wood that’s no longer productive. It’s easy to ID this wood in late winter: Productive wood will already be budded, while the dead wood will be bare.
Once your bushes are pruned, sit back and relax. Come midsummer, they’ll be loaded with berries for the picking. In the meantime, fill your recipe box with all kinds of possibilities: blueberry muffins, blueberry jam, blueberry cobbler, blueberry sauce, blueberry pancakes… It’s all good – and good for you, too!
