Planting Blueberries

Now you know I wouldn’t be able to plant the blueberries without creating some sort of disaster. Best of all, I had N there to give me play by play commentary on all the things I was doing wrong. You have to love kids for doing that so well.

I had decided to finally plant the blueberries we obtained from JM and CS, thus creating our fabulous blueberry orchard. This time I was going to do it right. Now being the type of person who has difficulty following directions, I did it all wrong last time, and I think the plants suffered for it. This time, CS gave me a lot of advice, and I soon realized that much of what she said was on the directions for the blueberry fertilizer, which is for acid-loving plants, i.e., blueberries.

The first step was to obtain some peat moss, which we just so happened to have in the barn, left over from the previous owners. You’re supposed to mix it in with the soil, along with the fertilizer, to make the plants happier. I didn’t do any of this the first time. Then you supplement the soil with sulfur pellets once a year, and then cover with mulch.

We wrestled with the location, mainly because we want them within vicinity of the house, but also because they need direct sunlight. The spot we chose we soon learned was right above the leach field, which I learned from asking SG, the previous owner. He recommended the same spot where the previous two plants were planted. We were concerned about this because those plants aren’t doing so great.

However, it could be because I planted them incorrectly, and truth be told, since I started taking better care of them, they seem to look a little better. Wishful thinking, perhaps? Sure, why not.

Either way, me and N jumped in. We dug the holes, cleared the rocks, and put the plants in. Blueberries have shallow roots, so the holes don’t have to be deep. The blunder I made was that I put one of them in, and decided to adjust it’s position and tried to lift it out, and proceeded to break the dirt clod that houses that roots. In other words, I tore the roots, which are thin as hairs. Big bummer, I hope the thing survives. On the next one, disaster struck again when I pulled the plant out and the half of the root clod stayed in the pot. Another big bummer. We’ll see how those two plants do.

The other four went in without too much trouble, and now we’re done. I just need to get more pine mulch. I hope these work out, because blueberry plants are not only cool, but they’re cool looking plants, as well. Plus, the more stuff you plant, the less grass there is to mow.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.