How to grow blueberries in Ohio
You CAN successfully grow blueberry plants in Ohio. Between the clay-laden soil and hoards of rabbits, it can be a challenge. If established properly, you can have years of easy-to-grow fruit. Here are some tips for success!
Blueberry patch Columbus, Ohio
Blueberries ripening
What I like about growing blueberries in Ohio:
Native to the United States
Chemicals sprays for fungus or insects not usually needed
Perennial plant: Comes back every year and can live for decades
Low maintenance: May need pruning of old canes after several years.
Pest insects tend to leave it alone
Bumble bees and honey bees LOVE these plants!
Small size
NO THORNS!!
High in antioxidants
Fun for kids
Uses:
Pies
Cobblers
Muffins
Pancakes
Jam
Eating fresh
Freezing
Time of year to plant:
Spring and Fall
Planting in the spring and fall is best when plants are dormant or going dormant. The new growth and flower buds can be easily damaged if moved during peak growing times.
Maturity:
Plants reach full maturity around 5 years. You can enjoy small harvest before reaching maturity.
Sun:
Full sun or partial shade
Growth spread:
Highbush blueberry 3-4 feet depending on variety
Dwarf lowbush blueberry 1.5-2 feet wide
Height:
Highbush 4-7 feet tall
Dwarf Lowbush 1-2 feet tall
Huge Chandler blueberry, quarter sized
Flowering blueberry bush
Planting blueberries
Make raised beds
Blueberry plants like sun and well-drained soil. They have shallow fibrous roots. They REALLY do not like sitting in soggy or hard, dry clay soil as we have in most of Ohio. I highly recommend making a raised bed. This helps keep the roots from sitting in water and the soil can be amended to promote better growth.
Prepare the soil
Use lots of peat moss, composed manure, and good quality topsoil. Preparing a bed can be expensive upfront but can lead to years of a bountiful harvests.
Fencing
Fencing is necessary for the protection of blueberry plants, even in the city. Ravenous, suburban bunnies can destroy all of your hard work. They tend to get super hungry during the cold winter months and love to eat the new growth on blueberry plants.
In country areas like mine, deer fencing is also necessary. I like to use chicken wire on the bottom and deer fence on top. The deer fence can be plastic but, the wire fence is necessary to keep rabbits out. They can easily chew through a plastic fence.
Prepare area:
Materials
Pressure treated Landscape Timbers: I like to use 4x6. You can use whatever size or material to raise them a few inches off of the ground. Landscaping bricks or cedar also work well.
Professional grade garden fabric
Peat Moss: 1.5 cubic feet per plant
High quality top soil: 40 pounds per plant
Composted manure: 20 pounds per plant
A slow release fertilizer like Espoma Organic Garden Tone Herb and Vegetable Food
Chicken wire/Poultry netting 3 foot
Fence U-posts: 4 foot if using only rabbit fence
Deer fence
Bird netting
Wire ties
Garden staples
Mulch: I like pine bark or pine needles
Labels: I like hanging copper tags that can be embossed. Plastic tags tend to disintegrate after a year.
Tools
Gas or electric powered tiller
Shovel
Garden Cultivator: great hand-tool for breaking up soil
Bucket of picked blueberries Columbus, Ohio
Planting:
Highbush blueberries need about a 5x5 foot space per plant. They look small when first planted but can span 4 feet wide. *Make sure you leave room for a path for picking.*
Till area
About 5 inches deep to break up the soil. Make sure to till under the area where timbers will be placed.
Remove all weeds from the area
Place garden timbers
around the area. I used 4x6 pressure treated landscape timbers which, are made to be on the ground.
Add soil amendments:
Add peat moss, topsoil, composted manure to the tilled planting area. Use about 1.5 cubic feet of peat moss, 20 pounds of composted manure, and 40 pounds of good topsoil per plant. Till again to mix well. Dig a hole large enough for the top of the root ball to level with the ground. Blueberry roots are extremely shallow and will grow 2 or 3 feet from the base of the plant once established. Cover with dirt and sprinkle fertilizer on top. Follow directions on the bag of fertilizer for the amount needed.
Cover with professional-grade garden fabric:
Cut it big enough to fit underneath the garden timbers. This will help control weeds. Make sure to leave a 1.5 foot opening from the base of the plant. Use garden staples to secure the fabric. Cover the fabric and the bare area around the plant with enough mulch so you can’t see fabric or soil anymore.
Water
Water thoroughly around the plant.
*Newly planted blueberries need to be watered often. Don’t let them get over dry. If there is not enough rain, blueberry plants need water during fruiting to have a good crop.*
Label
Copper hanging plant label
I recommend copper hanging tags. They last for years and eventually get a pretty patina with age. Plastic labels end up getting lost or broken.
Make sure the tag hangs loosely. The wire or string will choke the branch as it grows if it is too tight.
Twin baby fawns with spots Columbus, Ohio
Install a fence:
Keep bunnies and deer out!
Bunnies: Install the fence around the blueberry bed. I like to take the chicken wire and fold about 1 foot of the bottom to make an L-shape. Face L-shape toward the outside and secure the edge with garden staples. This will discourage animals from digging underneath the fence.
Deer: Attach a 5 foot plastic or wire fence on top on the chicken wire to keep deer out. Make sure it is tall enough because they are jumpers.
Use bird netting:
Unless you want some very happy birds in your yard!
Get to good stuff! I like a commercial grade heavy duty polyethylene bird netting that can be used for years. It comes in all kinds of sizes. The cheaply made netting gets caught on absolutely everything. You will spend more time fighting it.
Leave the plants uncovered during the flowering time so bees can pollinate them. As soon as the berries start forming, cover with bird netting. Be sure to do this well before berries start to ripen. The birds love blueberries so much that they will start eating them when they are half-ripe.
Maintenance:
Weeding! The garden fabric and mulch will help control the weeds.
Sprinkle a slow release fertilizer like Espoma Organic Garden Tone Herb and Vegetable Food around plants in the spring before flowering. Follow recommended directions on the package.
Prune 1-2 old canes after 5-6 years to keep plant vigorous.
Water weekly during dry periods in spring and summer, especially when newly planted.
Happy Harvesting!