Planting Guides

Blueberry Guide     Bramble Guide

Here is where you can find the methods that I have used to help people successfully grow blueberry and bramble plants here in south-central Indiana.  Your area, of course, will be unique; most likely where you live, you will have better soil than we do (every farmer thinks that, of course).  Regardless of the differences in site and climate, there are some basic tenets that, if followed, should result in a healthy, vigorous berry plant.  Go ahead and click the above guides if you want to go straight to them.  I am going to take a little space to describe our farm and fruit plantings, to give you an idea of just what our soil and climate is like. 
To begin, our farm has heavy clay soil with hardly any organic matter or humus.  The land has been in my wife's family for 100 years, and has had continuous activity up until 30 years ago.  The land had been logged 3 times, and parts had been field cropped by renters until the soil was exhausted.  Poor drainage is another attribute of this soil:  even on the hillsides there are areas that remain bogs until the hottest part of summer.  But, choosing sites that did drain, we have established healthy, productive stands of brambles and blueberries.  Brambles are especially good at growing in poor soils, as they come from a group of plants that lead the way in habitat reclamation (from a forests point of view):  look in any abandoned field or pasture (and some that are still in use) and you will see wild blackberries. 

Our farm has very little flat ground, just some up by the road, the rest down in the valley bottom (and due to flooding potential, is off limits to berry plants).  Although we are on the higher side of our valley, we reside in what, for lack of a better name, I call a super-valley (which I have come to call "The Big Frosty").  People living just 6 miles outside this cold hole in the Earth's crust have no problem getting annual crops of peaches, sweet cherries, and apples (typical zone 5 temps and weather).  Our spring weather assures us of about 1 peach and/or apple crop every 5-6 years.  Due to the "cold air sinks" phenomenon, we'll have clear nights in spring that will be 10-12˚ F cooler than those living outside the valley (unfortunately, our summer weather doesn't work this way).  This means that a 32˚F   light frost outside the valley will give us a hard freeze of around20˚F .

 The only spring flowering, fruiting plant to withstand the erratic weather we have is the blueberry.  It consistently  delivers fruit every year despite the weather, with the one exception being the spring of 2007, when we had 2-3 weeks of 60-70˚F  weather in late March, followed by 1 week of 20˚F  weather in April.  Plants died, trees were injured, all crops were lost.  The only fruit we harvested that year were fall red raspberries (full crop due to summer flowering), Triple Crown blackberries (very modest, but they were the only blackberries in our whole valley that fruited), and blueberries.  All the blueberries took a hit, but most made a crop at 50% yield, some a little more, and one, little Polaris, had a crop like nothing had happened out of the ordinary. 
Berry plants are certainly tough, maybe more primitive than their orchard cousins; and in being so, grace us with delicious fruit, even in their times of  tribulation.

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Blueberry Planting and Care Guide

Remember to check out the FAQ page for  information on
  site selection.

Site Preparation: 
 Most of a blueberry plants roots are in the top 8 inches of soil (forming a mat or skirt around the shrub), so your planting area need not be so deep as it should be wide.  I like to dig a 3'x3' wide hole, about 12"-16" deep.  Remember, check drainage.  You can plant on poor draining soil, you just need to mound the shrub so that it sits 6"-8" above grade  (shallow roots help you deal with wetness, but remember in droughty weather that anything "raised" dries out faster). 
 To refill the hole, use peat moss, shredded pine bark (not nuggets, but mulch, and it does need to be pine), and the native soil (unless it is totally clay, in which case you also have poor drainage, so plan on mounding and using the peat and pine bark 50/50).  I have also started using aged pine bark fines (not hardwood fines), the brand is Ensure Soil Conditioner.  This is a very nice amendment and soil additive, and the blueberry plants have just loved it. 
Refill back into the hole the above ingredients in a 1:1:1 ratio.  If you can't find shredded pine mulch, just double up on the peat moss.  I like the pine mulch and pine fines for two reasons:  it stretches your peat moss, which is more expensive; and it gives a real nice form to the mix, helping to add air,  channel water,  and stabilize the peat.
  For two shrubs, you'll need one 3.8 cu.ft. bale of sphagnum peat moss; and 2, 3 cu.ft. bags of pine mulch. ( If you can find the pine fines, plan on 1, 2cu.ft. bag per plant.)  Once you get all this mixed into the hole, it's time for amendments.  Add 6 cups (2#) of alfalfa pellets and a half cup of soft rock phosphate, or 3 cups (~1#) of a balanced organic fertilizer such as Ohio Earth Food's Re-Vita Pro.   Stir it all into the top 8 inches.
Planting your shrub:     
Set the bush so that the top of its root ball is just covered by the mix in the hole.  The planting area (which by now looks like a mini raised bed), after being amended with the peat moss and pine bark mulch, will likely have raised above the grade of your garden or yard slightly.  This is fine, and will encourage rapid growth.  DO NOT use compost  or manure when planting your blueberry, as these amendments will raise soil pH above what the plant requires to thrive. 
Aftercare:  
Mulch, mulch, mulch...pine needles (best!), shredded leaves (no walnut),  and shredded pine bark mulch are all excellent mulches for blueberry plants.  Do not use hardwood  bark mulch, hay or straw, as they alter pH  and encourage weeds.  During the year you plant it, and the following year, it would be good to water the bush regularly during the growing season (one good soaking weekly during the growing season).  You can top-dress (apply fertilizer under the mulch) with alfalfa pellets (2 c.) or granular organic fertilizer (1c.) in March, and again in late May.  Do not fertilize after June in zone 3-5, or after July in zones 6-8.  Blueberry plants do not like cultivation (due to shallow roots), so keeping it weed free with a thick, yet porous, mulch is essential to an organic blueberry plants vitality.
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Bramble Planting and Care Guide

Remember to check the FAQ page for information on
site selection

Site Preparation: 
The number one spot for most brambles is full sun in fair to well draining soils.  Remember that plants grown closer to the house or your daily rounds are more likely to get attention from you, and more appreciation.

There are two ways to go about planting brambles, in rows or in patches.  If you tend towards garden work, and incorporate pruning and mulching in your annual tasks, rows are a good way to go as they are neat and tidy, and provide maximum production.  If on the other hand you mulch every other year, don't like to prune that much, or don't have any long, skinny areas for row planting, then perhaps patches will work.  Patches are less intensive to manage (at least in the beginning...you will have to eventually be strict with them), and as they grow are quite productive given the amount of care they get.

Rows would be good to have 2 feet wide, and patches about 3' in diameter, or a 3'x2' "bed".  In the row, space red raspberries every 2'-3' (closer spacing=more rapid fill of row), black and purple raspberries every 3'-4', and blackberries 4'-6' (Triple Crown needs 6').  Patches or beds listed above get one plant each.

Make sure all grass is removed from planting area.  If you are cutting patches into your grassy lawn, leave enough room to mow around the patch (don't leave 10" of grass between the fence and your patch).  Dig holes for the plants that are 12"-16" deep and 12"-18" wide, and loosen the top 3" of soil immediately around the hole for another 4 inches or so. 

Mix in some peat moss, compost, rotted manure (not too much), or quality topsoil (or a mix of these) along with half of the soil you removed from the hole (the amendments should replace half the volume of soil you removed).  Add to this 1-2 cups alfalfa meal/pellets and 1/4 cup soft rock phosphate and 1/4 cup kelp meal; or 1 cup of balanced, organic fertilizer and 1/4 cup kelp meal.  Stir it all in well.

Planting your brambles: 
Plant the bramble into the hole level with where it was growing in the pot.  It is OK if the area is a little raised after adding the amendments.  If the root ball seems a little tight, gently loosen the bottom of the ball.  Spreading any loosened roots out, place it in the planting hole, backfill with the mixture, and water well.

Aftercare for your bramble: 
Yes.  Mulch is good for brambles, too.  I didn't mulch one patch of blackberries I put in, and it is literally a jungle in the summer.  I still get lots of blackberries from it, I just don't feel as serene when I am picking there (Q:"Was that a snake?" A:"I don't know. I can't see anything for all these weeds!").  Shredded leaves are a good mulch for brambles, as are any lawn clippings you bag up (actually, fallen leaves and grass clippings, chopped and bagged up together, is the best bramble mulch I have ever used).

Make sure you water regularly the year you plant them, and if it is a dry Spring.  Fall red raspberry plants may need irrigation through late July to early September if the weather is droughty and hot.  This is to insure constant and consistent fruit set, so that your supply of berries doesn't  "dry up".  For all other brambles (summer red raspberries, blackberries, purple and black raspberries), you will want to cut out old canes and burn or remove them from the growing area.  Old canes are the ones that produced fruit for you, and now look withered and dry.  This will help reduce any disease potential that may exist.  Remember, on these plants, the new canes won't fruit until next summer, so you want to keep them healthy and free of possible infection.

When the above brambles start to finish with their fruit, the fall red raspberries begin with theirs.  I manage all of our fall bearing raspberries the same way:  I mow them to the ground every winter.  After the canes go dormant, I grab my scythe blade and mow them down.  I remove all the debris from the growing area.  This will help the fall raspberries to produce earlier, as well as keeping fruit size up and disease/pests down.  As the new canes come up in the row or patch, prune out the weaker, spindly, horizontal growing ones.  Also mow down any that are getting "out-of-bounds" (or dig and transplant them to a new area).  If you have had cane disease problems with your summer raspberries, it may be worth trying fall raspberries, as it is much easier to keep the patch tidy and free of old canes.

When spring comes back around, go ahead and freshen the mulch (again, use a thick, porous mulch, and avoid mulches that will matt and prevent rain from penetrating to the roots). For all of the brambles, add about 1-2 cups alfalfa pellets per foot of row, plus a half cup of soft rock phosphate, or 1 cup of balanced, low N organic fertilizer.
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Things to remember when planting...

Check planting site for  drainage, you don't want it to be boggy or extremely slow to drain.  If you fill a hole with water and it stays full for several hours, plan on having to used a raised mound or finding another location.

 Check planting site for sunlight.  Too much shade is not good for berry plants.  Blueberry and raspberry plants need at least a half day of full sun to produce a sweet, full crop of berries.  Less sun = less fruit.  Blackberry plants need full sun.  It seems on our plants that if they get even a little shade, the berries become tart.

 Make sure your dog knows not to dig up your new berry plants.

 Make sure the site is marked so  when you (or someone else) mow, you don't mow over your new berry plant.  I actually know a cut flower vendor at our Market who repeatedly mowed down his wife's blueberry plant, thinking it a weed (it wasn't in the flower field).

  Don't stamp or pound the soil in around the plants roots.  That causes compaction in the soil, something as gardeners we are always working against.  Let gentle watering settle the soil and media around the roots.

 Try to put the berry plant where you can see it from the house, or at least on a frequent path or in a favorite growing area.  This way you will be sure to attend the plant more, and catch things sooner if something is wrong.

Watch out for Black Walnuts, as they are toxic to blueberries.  The brambles, however, do not show any sign of poisoning, and grow well in their vicinity.