Planting Blueberry Bushes In A Raised Garden Bed

Have you ever tried planting blueberry bushes in raised garden beds? Well I’m going to give it a go this year.  Since hubby added some new beds for me I have a little extra space to try something new.  I won’t mention I used to have 12 blueberry bushes until hubby mowed them over.  I have no idea how he couldn’t tell it was a row of purposeful planting, but he didn’t realize it. It’s been years since it happened and I just this year got the notion to try and grow them again.

I ordered bare root bushes and did as the instructions suggested; soak the roots in a bucket of water overnight or up to 24 hours.  I then planted them and gave the a good dose of water.  Now I’m anxiously awaiting blueberries.  I know for the first 2 year I am to pull all the flowers off to have a larger berry yield for the third year.  That’s going to be hard for me to do. Who wouldn’t want to have berries in the first year. Although they don’t really get well established with a heavy production until around year 5-6.  I’m hoping I can leave them alone and do their thing; we’ll see!

Since it will be a few years before the plants fill out I’m planning on using the remaining space in the bed for peppers. They are a companion plant that get’s along with blueberries so I’m taking advantage of the growing space while I can. 

I gathered up a roll of netting that I already had and a few tomato stakes to fence in the berry bushes. I figured the ducks would be feasting on them but so far that hasn’t been an issue so the fence never went up.  I will say they are eating my onion sets so I’m planning on fencing in the entire garden this weekend.  I’ll be back to show you that when it’s complete.  

If you are a blueberry grower leave me a comment with any tips or tricks you think I”ll need to know.