Growing blueberries in your backyard garden

There are many blueberries native to North America. The berries, fresh or frozen, are suitable for desserts and jam making, and, of course, make excellent pies.

Blueberries need a moisture-retentive, acid soil — with a pH value between 5 and 6.

• If the pH is higher than 5.5, seek recommendations for how much sulfur to add to adjust the pH to between 4.0 and 5.5.
• They do best in an open, sunny area, but they can be grown in partial shade.
• In northern regions the bushes should be given protection from cold winds.
• It is useless to try to grow blueberries in alkaline soil. When only alkaline soil is available, blueberries can be grown in containers.
• Fill the containers with an acid- or a peat-based compost, with no lime added.

Four to six bushes should provide a good supply of blueberries for the average family.

• The berries are generally ready for picking in mid and late summer. Each of the plants will bear fruit over a period of several weeks.
• Blueberries are not completely self-fertile; to ensure a good yield, plant at least two varieties.
• Plant blueberry bushes in fall or spring when soil is workable. Set the bushes 1 to 1.2 metres (three to four feet) apart and about 3 centimetres (one inch) deeper in the soil than they were in the nursery.

Fertilize plants yearly with soybean meal or alfalfa meal (70 to 500 grams or a quarter to two cups per plant).

• Recheck soil pH every three years and add more sulfur if needed.
• Early each summer, mulch with well-rotted manure, garden compost, leaf mold, or peat. Protect plants from birds with netting.

Plants may suffer from chlorosis, which can be caused by soil that is not sufficiently acidic.

• Yellow mottling or patches occur on the leaves, growth is poor, and few blueberries are produced.
• To decrease the pH, dig in acidic material, such as peat moss, and apply sulfur to the soil as directed on the container.

Blueberries need no pruning for the first three years after planting. After that, prune each winter.

• Fruit is borne on the previous year's wood. To promote new shoots that will fruit the following year, cut from one to four of the oldest shoots from each bush.
• Either cut them back hard to a strong new shoot, or if there are plenty of young basal shoots, cut them down to soil level.

The season of ripening given below is for most major blueberry areas; ripening will occur later in the North.

• However, since ripening time is an estimate only, it will vary according to the growing conditions prevailing during the season.

'Northland' Early:

• Mid to late Summer
• Small, medium blue berries
• Small spreading bush, only 1.2 m (4 ft) at maturity
• Good hardiness

'Berkeley:'

• Midseason (late summer)
• Very large berry
• Medium quality
• Bush is medium hardy

'Bluecrop:'

• Midseason (late summer)
• Large, good berries
• Average-vigour bush; quite hardy and drought-resistant

There you have it -- a simple guide to growing your own delicious blueberries. What a perfect way to complete your backyard garden!