Add Photo to Journal
|
|
| Photo Credit: Gerald Klingaman |
| You need to prune your bushes properly to get juicy blueberries like these! |
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 sp.), 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.
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:
1. Prune any branches growing outside the bush’s footprint (or main circum- ference). 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.
2. 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.
|