Blueberries: Delicious and easy to grow

By Matt S., Pitt County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent
Growing plants that produce fruit is rewarding, but often difficult work. It’s great to pick a fresh fruit off the branch and take a bite, but for some types of plants the yield may not add up to what chores like pruning, fertilizing, and pest control would seem to indicate. Blueberries are an exception. They are easy to grow and require little if any pesticides, making them an ideal choice for organic-minded gardeners.
   Blueberries are acid-loving plants that like well-drained, sandy soils. A pH of about 4.8 is ideal, so you’ll want to test the soil well before planting and add sulfur if the soil is too basic. Add a bit of compost or organic matter to help retain water and nutrients. On heavier soils where drainage is an issue, use organic matter to build a raised mound or ridge at least 6 inches high in order to provide plants with adequate drainage. While blueberries can grow in sun or shade, they’ll produce more fruit if grown in full sun. Though they require some pruning, they’ll need much less than other fruit producing plants such as grapes, apples, or peaches.  

They taste great and are easy to grow, In addition, they pack a strong aesthetic punch. Above: Rabbiteye blueberries produce attractive pinkish-white blooms in spring, making them an excellent addition to the home landscape.

Right: A cluster of bright blue fruit hangs from a blueberry bush in summer. This is how we often picture blueberries.                                                    
These are Rabbiteye Blueberries, suitable for growing in Eastern North Carolina.

Both rabbiteye and highbush blueberry types are suitable for use in Eastern North Carolina, though rabbiteyes are a bit more heat-tolerant and are adapted to a wider range of soil types.  Rabbiteye varieties ‘Climax’, ‘Premier’, and ‘Powderblue’ as well as highbush varieties ‘O’Neal’, ‘Duke’, and ‘Legacy’ all perform well in our region.  Though not all blueberries require a cross pollinator, many yield better when grown amongst other varieties, so consider planting several varieties for this reason, as well as to lengthen the harvest season. Highbush varieties should be spaced four feet apart and rabbiteyes six feet apart.

   In addition to their delicious fruit, blueberries provide quite an aesthetic punch, making them an excellent addition to a home landscape.  Starting with pinkish-white blooms in spring, which turn to bright blue fruit in summer, and finishing with intense red fall foliage, blueberries will bring more color to your landscape than many traditional ornamental plants. If you’re growing just a few plants, you can easily incorporate them into landscape beds with other acid-loving plants.  There’s no need to set them apart unless you have a large planting.

In the fall, Highbush Blueberries produce intense red fall foliage, as seen above. Photo: Nicholas-Brandsberg, CC BY NC-NC 2.0

   While pruning is not as intensive as it is for other fruit-producing plants, it will need to be done periodically to ensure the bushes produce optimally. Many gardeners make the mistake of pruning too drastically and removing much of the good fruit-producing wood, while others don’t prune frequently enough and allow older, less productive growth to take over.  Typically, a mix of thinning and heading back cuts with the occasional removal of older branches for rejuvenation is the best strategy for pruning blueberries.

Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. f you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or  252-902-1705.