Planting Guide for Blueberry Bushes

Blueberries are packed with vitamins and antioxidants, and are a tasty addition to salads, baked goods, cereal and and are delicious on their own. Add blueberry bushes to any fruit or vegetable garden for easy, inexpensive access to large quantities of home-grown blueberries. When planting blueberry bushes in a home garden, proper soil preparation is needed to ensure the blueberries survive their first few seasons prior to maturing and fruiting.

Soil testing kit

Shovel

Peat moss

Soil acidifier

Scout your yard for a location that receives full sun, or at least only partial shade if there is no area that receives full sun. While blueberries can tolerate partial shade, they will not produce as much fruit.

Test the soil of the area where the blueberry bush is going to be planted with a soil pH testing kit. Blueberries need acidic soil--a pH of between 4.0 and 5.0--to thrive.

Apply a soil acidifier such as aluminum sulfate or granulated sulfur as per the directions on the container if the soil is not at the proper pH.

Prepare the soil with organic matter, such as peat moss. Peat moss further acidifies the soil and allows for better soil drainage and water retention. Work half of a square foot of peat moss into the top square foot of potting soil. If peat moss is unavailable, aged manure, compost or aged sawdust can be substituted.

Plant the blueberry bush in a hole that is 2 to 3 inches deeper than the pot it came in from the nursery. If multiple blueberry bushes are being planted at once, plant them 3 to 4 feet apart.

Pull off any blossoms from the blueberry plant for the first three years to encourage faster growth. Blueberries generally won't produce high yields of fruit for their first few seasons.

Water the blueberry bush with 1 to 2 inches of water each week.

Blueberries can suffer heavy fruit loss if ravaged by birds. When the bushes are fruiting, place protective netting around them to prevent birds and other pests eating the berries.