DON’T SAY ‘I CAN’T GROW BLUEBERRIES,’ says Lee Reich, whose PhD explored factors affecting the growth of Vaccinium corymbosum, the highbush blueberry. “Follow the prescription and you can.” So what exactly is Lee’s Rx? It’s covered in his latest book, “Grow Fruit Naturally,” along with detailed how-to on every imaginable home fruit crop (in pots or the ground) from kiwi to pawpaw, citrus to pomegranate to plain old strawberries, apples and pears, 31 kinds in all. You can get his blueberry tips on the jump page—along with the chance to win one of two copies Lee shared with me to offer to you. I’ll even let you know what’s going on in the photo up top.
Lee Reich and I have been writing about gardening for a similarly long time, connecting off and on throughout our careers. The last time I saw him? Saturday, during my Garden Conservancy Open Day, when he just walked up the driveway, quite to my surprise. His books “A Northeast Gardener’s Year” and “Uncommon Fruits Worthy of Attention,” both published around 20 years ago, are longtime favorites of mine, and the newest, “Grow Fruit Naturally,” has Lee’s characteristic fusion of solid science; practical, nature-inspired common sense, and a consistently considerate relationship with the environment.
Growing Blueberries
TO BE PROLIFIC fruit producers, blueberries do have special soil requirements, Lee acknowledges, but he manages to provide that and get more than 180 quarts of fruit each year from 16 highbush types in his home garden (which he calls a “farmden,” as in half farm, half garden) in New Paltz, New York, across the Hudson from where I garden.
Me? I grow lowbush (Vaccinium angustifolium) and highbush types, both Eastern native species, for their spring flowers, red fall foliage (below) and the fact that they are favorites of birds (and unfortunately my local army of chipmunks). I never eat a single berry.
Lee takes things a bit more seriously. His prescription for success includes these steps:
Identify a sunny spot, and then adjust accordingly to also provide very acidic soil that is well-drained but moist, infertile (“Yes, you read that right,” writes Lee) and high in organic matter. If drainage is a problem, consider raised-bed planting.
Start with a soil test (blueberries like the pH in the 4-5 range).
If the pH needs adjustment, use sulfur to acidify the soil. (Pelleted is cheaper and easier to apply than powdered, he says, but either one used according to what your test indicates.) Add the sulfur to the soil of the planting hole, and also spread it around the area that will be the eventual root zone of the plant as it grows.
Lee mixes in a bucketful of peat moss to amend each hole at planting time. Because peat is a non-renewable resource and under intense scrutiny from environmentalists, who advise against its use, I asked what else we might try.
“What’s needed is some long-lasting form of organic matter that isn’t rich in nutrients,” he explained. “Thoroughly rotted sawdust is another possibility. Probably very old compost would be okay too because much of it would be stabilized organic matter that would release nutrients only very slowly. Back to the peat moss, though; this is only a one-time application.”
After planting, water well (a practice that will need to be kept up particularly in the plant’s first few years in the ground; Lee’s blueberry garden is on drip irrigation). Mulch to a depth of about 3 inches with wood shavings and chips, pine needles, autumn leaves or sawdust.
Lee replenishes the mulch each fall, after leaf drop—and also feeds the plants at that time with soybean meal at the rate of 1 pound per 100 square feet. He retests the soil pH every few years, and adjusts with more sulfur as indicated.
Starting at four years old, the strict dormant pruning regimen begins on highbush plants, because stems aged six years or older are not good fruit producers. In late winter, the oldest stems (they will be about an inch thick) are cut out to the base (photo above shows how the base of a mature plant looks after pruning, with a good mix of older, younger, and middle-aged stems remaining).
After more than 20 years of following these practices, Lee’s bushes are still prolific—and as I said, he even gets to eat the fruit. That’s because of the last step in his Rx: the blueberry gazebo (top photo, seen in winter).
What a coop is to predator-prone chickens, the gazebo—netted top and sides—is to blueberries. A delicious solution.
Just before he left here Saturday, Lee had a question for me: “So what will you do with that potted fig on the patio this winter, Margaret?” I’ll put it in the unheated garage with the Japanese maples, I replied about the plant I just bought this spring. Oops! No, says Lee, the fruit doctor. Guess the next chapter in “Grow Fruit Naturally” I’ll be reading is the one about figs.
- Buy the book now: “Grow Fruit Naturally” (or any of Lee’s other books)
Win a Copy of ‘Grow Fruit Naturally’
TO ENTER TO WIN A COPY of Lee Reich’s new “Grow Fruit Naturally,” all you have to do is comment by answering the question:
What fruit do you grow—or wish to grow—in your home garden? Any tips or tricks to share?
Don’t worry, you can simply say, “Count me in” and your entry will be registered, in case you’re feeling shy. Two winners will be drawn at random after entries close at midnight Tuesday, June 12. Good luck to all!
Which Blueberry to Grow?
- Highbush (V. corymbosum), Zones 4-7; to 7 feet tall, but less with pruning
- Lowbush (V. angustifolium), Zones 3-7; a suckering groundcover up to 18 inches high; mow or cut to the ground every few years to renew as desired
- Half-high varieties (hybrids between the previous two species), under 4 feet
- Rabbiteye (V. asheii, a Southeast native), Zones 7-9; suckering shrub to 15 feet tall, heat-tolerant
Extra Help from Lee’s Website
- Lee’s fall blueberry-care ritual: soybean meal, sulfur and wood chips
- Lee’s early spring pruning tactics for high and lowbush blueberries
- On netting highbush bushes for bird-protection
Lee’s Favorite Fruit Sources
I HAD TO ASK LEE REICH, whom Barbara Damrosch calls “the Pied Piper of fruit growing,” where he shops for fruit plants. Here are some of his favorites:
- For common tree fruits, Cummins Nursery, and Adams County Nursery
- For berries, Nourse Farms and Indiana Berry
- Especially for blueberries, Hartmann Plant Company
- For a variety of fruit, especially uncommon ones, Raintree Nursery and One Green World
- For nuts, Burnt Ridge Nursery and Nolin Nursery
I love fruit, so I want to grow them all! Our soil here is so poor and dry, though, that I think the next one I try will be a native serviceberry bush. If that won’t grow, nothing will. That book sounds fabulous – one I would use for years.
Have you had the drawing yet? Haven’t seen who won.
Drip irrigation for a box garden
I want to learn how to install a drip irrigation system for (a part of) our community garden. Part of it is a box garden and we’ve added 6 big tubs where we have more space and dirt. But I couldn’t find any articles on your website about drip irrigation. Do you only use a hose?
Hi, Sezgi. I do hand water (hose or sprinklers) but there are some easy/inexpensive kits that might be good — some friends use them. Like this one by RainBird (though of course in a big garden you’d need multiples or to call them for info on something custom).
I just planted 2 blueberry bushes and I am hopeful! Trying to keep it organic.
I lack enough sun to grow fruits well, but I keep trying.
What fruits do I grow? We’ve owned the farm for 7 years and inherited three old Spartan apples trees, a Bartlet and Bosc-type pear trees, a Green Gage plum and some raspberries. Since moving in I’ve added blueberries, Saskatoon berries, gooseberry, black currant and strawberries (day neutral, Mignette and white). Oh, and a high-bush huckleberry. This year I also harvested enough Oregon Grapes to make a small batch of jam but of my five different types of blueberries I didn’t get a single bloosom or fruit!!! I would LOVE to know how to make sure that doesn’t happen again and Lee’s book sounds perfect.
We own 12 acres on the edge of town, over a 5 year process we built our own home, landscaped, working to clean up 9 acres of timber, planted about 30 fruit trees, close to 30 blueberry plants, grapes, and a long row of Raspberries. I would love your book as we are learning how to train and care for our many new plants and trees.
Right now the only “fruit” we grow are tomatoes, but absolutely love and would like to try to grow blueberries. (if I can keep the deer away. (lol)
I planted 6 blueberry bushes last fall and am hoping they will provide us with snacks in future years.
I grow blueberries and figs. However, I never get to eat them because the birds do. Since I’m a bird lover, I don’t mind! They need to eat too.
I planted a variety of new blueberries bushes last fall, and have had great success with some older highbush specimens that I moved to a sunnier location. The best performer was topdressed with a bucket of llama poop that I won at a raffle, and that plant produced about 25 quarts last summer. Thanks for the tips, I think I need to wade through the snow and do some pruning soon!
I have Caroline red raspberries, but am moving soon to a three-acre farm, so I am spending these cold winter evenings perusing the seed catalogs. I have my eye on blueberries and honeyberries. I am itching to dig in the dirt! If I don’t win the book, I am going to buy it, by golly!
It seems I grow blueberries for the birds and chipmunks!!! count me in please!
Great article. I am going to purchase Highbush Blueberry from Washington County Soil and Water conservation District. Are these the right type of Blueberry bushes for Southern Washington Co, NY along the Hoosic River?
Would love to know more about growing fresh fruit. We planted 2 blueberries bushes two years ago and had a handful to taste last year that were great! We also planted other fruits such as kiwi, pawpaw and pomegranate last year. So please count me in.
Hi, Pattie. It depends on the variety — which highbush you choose among the many. Expert Lee Reich says: “Some popular northern varieties include ‘Bluecrop’, ‘Blue Ray’, and ‘Earliblue’, adapted for zones 4 through 7.”
I grow blueberries, peaches, 3 types of apples, pecans, plum, and apricot. Love the information on blueberries–as I only have two plants and want to grow more probably in raised gardens. All above grown on 3/4 of an acre. Please count me in.
Black Raspberries! However, the past 2 years, raccoon families have been stripping them the night before they peak. They must have quite a rowdy party as I find the wire fencing toppled, the vines broken and not even a nearly ripe berry to be found … Need to encase them more securely in a sturdy chain link cage, or borrow a guard dog, or light a bonfire and keep an all night vigil … Also have native Paw Paws back in the woods. Didn’t get any of the fruit the past couple years, either. But, I was delighted to see seedlings coming up all over the back woodland since clearing the invasive honeysuckle cover. I imagine the raccoons or deer have consumed the fruit with the seeds and inadvertently planted them … I have sprouted different varieties to intersperse, since I’ve been told that is necessary for better fruiting, as with blueberries.
Count me in….
I put in several fruit trees last year, but I have no idea what I am doing!! LOL THanks for all your info!