Blueberries are a must in the lean, acidic heather garden soil and partially shaded moorland. With their pretty flowers, the decorative berry bushes add colorful accents to the spring garden. The real attraction is the juicy, blue berries, which are delicious fresh from the bush or as a delicious ingredient in cold and warm dishes. Annual pruning is the key to a bountiful harvest of tasty blueberries. You can read about when and how to properly prune your blueberry bushes here.
When and how should you cut blueberries?
Blueberries should be cut once a year in February to increase crop yield. For young plants (1st to 3rd year), carry out a training cut, and from the 4th year onwards, carry out a maintenance cut. Old wood is removed and the plant is rejuvenated.
Cutting types and dates
Annual pruning of blueberries is not mandatory. In contrast to raspberries or blackberries, you can easily grow wild blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) and cultivated blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum). However, if you pick up the scissorsonce a year, your effort will be rewarded with a higher harvest yield and larger blueberries. The following table provides an overview of recommended types of cuts and the best date for each:
| Cut style | Goal/Occasion | best date |
|---|---|---|
| Educational Cut | build a productive shrub | 1. until the 3rd year in February |
| Conservation cut | Preserve profitability | from the 4th year of February to the beginning of March |
| Rejuvenation cut | revitalizing neglected blueberries | late winter |
Excursus
Blueberries north of the Alps are better cut in February
By pruning in February you are making the best choice of date for your blueberries. In mild winter regions of hardiness zones 7, 8 and higher, there is the option of pruning the berry bush immediately after harvest. For harsh winter regions in hardiness zones 6 and 5, an autumn date is associated with the risk that a naturally hardy blueberry will freeze back severely. It cannot be ruled out that the plant will sprout freshly after cutting, which will significantly affect its natural frost hardiness.
Raising blueberries correctly
With5 to 8 ground shoots a blueberry bush is well positioned for a rich harvest with large, juicy fruits. A framework with more than 10 ground shoots will also give you delicious blueberries. However, you have to take into account that the fruits are small and low in juice. We therefore recommend the following pruning from the planting year until the start of the yield phase in the second or third year. How to proceed professionally:
- Build a shrub framework with 5 to 8 vital ground shoots (maximum 10)
- Remove excess ground shoots
- In the first and second year, allCut off flowers at the flower stem or break off
It is undoubtedly difficult to remove the flowers in the first two years and therefore miss out on a juicy blueberry harvest. Nevertheless, we recommend that you undergo this intervention in your growth. As a result, the berry bush invests all of its energy in strong roots and he althy, productive growth.
Tip
Planting too deep will deprive your blueberries of their will to live. Place the root ball so that it protrudes about two fingers' width from the substrate. Cover the exposed root area with bark mulch or leaf compost, which can be up to 20 centimeters thick for autumn planting, as natural winter protection.
Instructions for the maintenance cut
An annual maintenance cut continues in a modified form what you initiated with your upbringing. The aim of pruning care iscontinuous rejuvenation by replacing older ground shoots with young wood. If unfavorable brooms form on the tips of the shoots as they get older, a skillful pruning can help. How to properly prune established blueberries:
- Best time is in February on a frost-free day
- At the beginning, cut out dead branches that grow inwards or crosswise
- Broom-like branched shoot tips slim down to a lower side branch
- From the 4th year onwards, thin out at least oneold scaffold shoot
- Take the most promising vertical ground shoot or shoots as a successor
- Remove excess ground shoots at the base
The entire blueberry bush benefits fromcontinuous rejuvenation. By making room for a young ground shoot each year from the oldest scaffold shoot, you also promote the growth of young, annual side branches as the most valuable fruit wood. At the same time, you won't feel forced to put an outdated blueberry on the vine in later years and therefore go without delicious blueberries from your own harvest for several years.
Starting in the fourth year, thin out an older ground shoot. In exchange, you use a young shoot as a fresh scaffolding component. If shoot tips branch out massively, slim down the broom using the derivation to a deeper side shoot.
Background
Promoting young fruit wood – instructions for the derivation cut
The thickest and sweetest blueberries grow on the annual side shoots on the bush structure. To ensure that aged, worn branches do not shade the young fruit wood or deprive it of important nutrients, a drainage cut clears the way. You can recognize old wood by its heavily branched, drooping growth and grey-brown, barky bark. Look along the old shoot for a young side shoot with green, smooth bark. Place the pruning shears at the junction of young and old wood. The illustration below illustrates the important pruning technique that is crucial for all fruit trees.
During the derivation cut, old, worn wood must give way so that young fruit wood can develop freely.
Rejuvenate old blueberry bushes
Blueberries can live up to 40 years. This much concentrated life force can easily survive even if pruning care has been neglected for several years. If you have taken over an old blueberry bush, give it new impetus to growth with a vigorous rejuvenation cut. This is how it works:
- Best time is in late winter
- First cut off all dead ground shoots at the base
- Cut back the remaining shoots to 30 to 35 centimeters
After a total pruning, a blueberry bush remembers its “iron reserve”. Specifically, these are sleeping eyes that slumber almost invisibly under the gray, barky bark. By radically shortening the berry bush, the dormant buds are vitalized. In combination with a good portion of leaf compost and horn shavings, a fresh shoot appears that you can use for a new structure.
You can revitalize an aging, old blueberry bush with a rejuvenating cut. Cut back all shoots to 30 centimeters in late winter. The tree sprouts vigorously from the sleeping eyes the following summer.
Frequently asked questions
Are blueberries self-fruitful?
That's right. A blueberry bush bears fruit without a conspecific being nearby. Nevertheless, it is highly recommended to keep at least two blueberries together. This not only increases the yield. By planting the early ripening variety 'Earlyblue' next to the mid-ripening variety 'Bluecrop' and the late blueberry variety 'Goldtraube', the harvest window remains open longer.
How long does it take for a freshly planted blueberry to bear fruit for the first time?
As a rule, young blueberries fruit for the first time in the second or third year after planting. The yield will be significantly improved right from the start if you plant several varieties in the garden.
I would like to grow blueberries on my balcony. Which variety is suitable for this? How big should the pot be?
All blueberry varieties love a place in partial shade. You have the freedom to choose for the west or east balcony or in a shaded niche on the south balcony. A bucket with at least 10 liters volume is large enough to grow blueberries in. Please make sure to use a slightly acidic substrate, such as rhododendron or ericaceous soil.
My three blueberry bushes only bear a few, measly fruits. I suspect the cause is an unsuitable location. When and how can I transplant the berry bushes?
Blueberries prefer a sunny to partially shaded location that is not too hot. A humus-rich, permeable garden soil with a pH value of 4.0 to 5.0 is perfect. The best time to change location is in autumn after the leaves have fallen. Cut off the root ball in a radius that is at least half the circumference of the bush. At the new location, ideally prepare the planting pit with ericaceous soil or a mix of leaf compost, sand and clay as well as a handful of horn shavings.
Numerous branches of my two-year-old blueberry have dried up at the tips and have brown leaves. What are the causes? What can I do?
Diagnosing the damage described is difficult without inspecting the bush. You should consider the following causes: waterlogging, too high a pH value (greater than 5.5), compacted soil, drought. If one of the first three triggers mentioned applies, we recommend cutting the blueberry bush back into he althy wood and replanting it or changing the soil. Regular watering with soft rainwater helps against drought.
The 3 most common cutting mistakes
When cutting blueberries, joy and suffering are closely linked. Pruning at the wrong time dampens the joy of the harvest, as does incorrect cutting. So that you don't have to deal with unnecessary problems with blueberry bushes, the following table draws attention to the three most common pruning mistakes and gives tips for skillful prevention:
| Cutting errors | malicious image | Prevention |
|---|---|---|
| never photographed | senile, impenetrable growth | thin every year from the 4th year onwards |
| no parenting cut | densely branched shrub with a few small fruits | Build blueberries with 5 to 8 strong ground shoots |
| cut after flowering | few or no fruits | always cut in February |
Querbeet Garten-Tipp: Heidelbeeren schneiden
Tip
Blueberries have anaversion to limescale in any form. Plant the berry bushes in acidic soil with a pH between 4 and 5. To prevent lime from accumulating in the soil, please always water the thirsty blueberries with rainwater or well-stale tap water.
