Pruning Blueberry Bushes & Blueberry Bush Care

January 28, 2020 by Melissa Norris 83 Comments

Pruning blueberry bushes and proper blueberry bush care can help yield not only a larger harvest but also larger, juicier berries. Follow these easy step-by-step instructions on how to prune blueberries and properly amend the soil for quality growth.

Why Should I Prune My Blueberry Bushes?

It seems so contradictory to cut OFF branches in order to get MORE fruit, but that’s exactly what we need to do with our fruit trees and shrubs, namely, blueberry plants.

If you want larger, tastier berries, then yearly pruning of your blueberry bushes will become your new best friend. The best (and most tasty) blueberries tend to grow on newer, stronger canes that are pointing straight up, and while the older canes will still bear fruit, you want a constant steady rotation of new fruit-bearing canes to maintain the fruit quality.

Furthermore, blueberry bushes that are neglected year after year can become overcrowded, making it hard to produce sizeable fruit. The bush may also become unruly and an undesirable shape for harvesting berries.

Pruning blueberries is slightly different than pruning fruit trees, though some of the principals remain the same.

I can’t help but think of this verse every time I think about how to prune blueberries or any of our plants. I’m always amazed at how gardening brings to mind so many of the scriptures.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. John 15:2

Blueberries are one of my favorite fruits. They’re sweet and juicy on the tongue, freeze better than any other berry, dehydrate well, and can even be grown in a container or pot. Plus, they turn things purple (one of my high school’s colors), what’s not to love?

Looking for great ways to preserve all those blueberries your bushes will be producing? Check out my FREE Preserving Blueberries & Blueberry Recipes eBook or my Home Fruit Preserving eCourse.

How to Prune Blueberries & Proper Blueberry Bush Care (For a Better Harvest)

Update: Watch this video to learn how to prune blueberries, especially older or mature blueberry plants, including restoring old blueberry bushes that might have missed a few prunings.

Blueberry Bushes are Great for Small Spaces

Almost anyone can grow blueberries, even if all you have is a patio or small yard because blueberries can be kept compact. One mature bush, allowed mostly full sun will produce a good amount of berries for eating fresh and preserving.

Blueberries make a gorgeous addition to your flower beds as their flower buds turn to dainty white blossoms in spring and in the fall, their leaves turn a pretty red before falling.

Blueberries are a fairly slow-growing plant. If your plant is only a year or two old, I wouldn’t prune it yet, just let it grow and establish its root system. Our bushes are going on five years old and are definitely in need of some pruning.

When is the Best Time to Prune Blueberry Bushes?

The best time of year to prune blueberries is in late winter or early spring. You want to prune them when the fruit buds are showing. It's also best to prune on a dry day.

If you're like us, the answer for when to prune blueberries (in Washington State) would be mid-January through the first part of March. I also was out for a run and happened upon my wonderful neighbor pruning her blueberries. She's an organic farmer who has served on the board for Organic Tilth, making her my go-to person when I have gardening questions.

She gave me a quick pruning lesson and I'm passing it along to you guys, cuz us homesteading peeps have to stick together.

An up close look at a blueberry branch with pruning sheers cutting off the end.

The Best Method for Pruning Blueberry Bushes

As I mentioned in the video above, I had just pruned my elderberry bushes with my garden tools. Because of this, I always start by sterilizing my tools to avoid the possibility of spreading disease between my plants.

Once you're ready to prune, the first thing you want to do is take off all of the dead branches, these should be the oldest canes on your plant. You'll want to be sure your pruning shears are nice and sharp because it's best if you prune off the dead branches at a 45-degree angle.

If you're cutting off an entire branch, you'll want to cut the branch straight across, right at the very base.

How to Prune New Blueberry Bushes

If your blueberry bush is brand new (the first or second year after planting), you'll stop after the step mentioned above and only remove any dead or diseased branches. You don't need to prune anymore than that on first or second-year-old blueberry plants. The goal for newer bushes is to establish their shape and set them up for success in years to come.

Gloved hand holding a blueberry bush branch. Arrows pointing to the red new growth and the dead branch.

4 Tips to Identify Which Branches to Prune Off Your Blueberries

As mentioned above, the first thing you'll look for is dead branches. They have to go.

Next, step back and look at the bush. You want the middle of the bush to have good circulation. If it's too compact the berries in the center won't receive much light and won't ripen well.

Look for branches in the middle that don't have any or very much new growth. Those will be the ones you want to remove.

Be sure and cut the branch off down to the very base of the bush. This will encourage healthy new growth.

Now, look at the bush again. Are there branches that don't have any new fruit buds?

There's no point in keeping branches that aren't going to be producing any fruit. Each fruit bud will produce a good handful of berries, so if a branch has several, that's a decent amount of berries.

Finally, look for branches that grow long and leggy with no branches until the end. It's best to cut these as they're not producing fruit along the length of the branch, just the end. Your goal is to keep the branches with lots of new red growth and fruit buds.

Learn how to prune blueberry bushes for a larger harvest. If you've ever planned on having blueberries or have them, this step by step tutorial shows you how to prune blueberries for a maximum harvest and how to mulch and fertilize for healthier bushes. Read this now to get your bushes in prime condition.

So to recap, when identifying branches to prune off you're looking for the following four things:

Dead branches.
Branches in the middle with zero or very little new growth.
Branches with no (or very few) fruit buds.
Long and leggy branches.

As your blueberry bush grows, you'll want to cut off any small shoots coming up at the very base of the plant to encourage upright growth. It's not much fun to hunch over the whole time you're picking berries. Or maybe that's a sign I'm starting to get old… nah.

Once your branches start showing signs of slowing down their production (usually after six years or so) you'll want to begin to trim them back to allow new younger shoots to get established.

Mulching and Feeding Your Plants

After you've gone through and pruned your blueberry bush(es), you'll want to add some new mulch and fertilizer. Blueberries are one of the most acid-loving plants around. In fact, our soil is about a 5.5 on the ph scale and it's not quite acidic enough for the blueberries. My neighbor even adds sulfur to her soil.

I've found various reports on the acidity of used coffee grounds. Some articles say it's only about a 5 while others say it's more. Regardless of how acidic it is, it's an excellent food for your bush and something most of us have on hand.

I put a good layer of coffee grounds around the base of my blueberry bushes each year, making sure to mix it up so it doesn't grow mold. Here is my article on 4 tips for using coffee grounds in the garden.

Next goes on a good layer of manure. Because this layer is going on top of last year's layer of mulch, I don't worry if it's a little bit hot because it won't be hitting the roots right away. After I've added my manure I put on a 5 to 6-inch layer of sawdust.

Cedar is a good choice for blueberries (but not all plants), fir, maple, and pine will work as well. Whatever you can get your hands on basically.

The reason we mulch so heavily here is threefold.

A row of blueberry bushes without leaves.

Why Mulch for Proper Care of Your Blueberry Bushes?

Prevent new weeds from growing.
Help keep in the moisture come our drier summer months (though in the Pacific Northwest that's usually not until after July 4th).
To prevent mummy berry fungus.

What is the Mummy Berry Disease?

If you're in a wetter climate like me, you've probably heard of the dreaded mummy berry disease. It's a fungus that infects first the branch of the plant and then the blossoms. The berry starts to develop, but then stops about halfway through and instead of ripening, turns into a shriveled mauve-colored berry that resembles mummification.

If the infection gets worse, you'll eventually end up with no berry harvest.

The fungus actually comes from a tiny mushroom that grows during the first part of spring (and develops where the mummified berry falls). If you put down a thick enough layer of mulch, the fungus can't grow and therefore can't spread.

Do you have blueberries or plan on putting some in?

Here's a great resource for further reading:

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How to Prune Tomato Plants for a Better Harvest

July 9, 2014 by Melissa Norris 51 Comments

Learn how to prune tomato plants for a better harvest, because we all want more delicious tomatoes right?

How to prune tomato plants for the best harvest ever. Love these tips on how to get more yield from your plants.

Tomatoes have long been my nemesis crop.

From the rainy summers of the Pacific Northwest, the dreaded blight, and even blossom drop. But this year, I've finally got a gorgeous bunch of tomato plants. And nothing, I mean nothing, is going to come in the way of my harvest. At least, if I can help it.

There's nothing more discouraging than putting in all the time, effort, and money, to care for a plant, and then not get a harvest. And, if I'm being totally honest with you guys, it feels like a black mark on my homesteaders badge. I consider myself a fairly decent gardener. I'm also a tad bit stubborn.

This my friends, is a recipe for going-to-get-it-right-if-it-kills-me. While that kind of makes me crazy at times, it's a huge win for you. Because you get to learn what not do and what works, without all the hair pulling and rotten tomato throwing.

Course, maybe you don't throw rotten tomatoes. Maybe you're way more reserved and calm. I however, took great relish in hucking those rotten tomatoes as far as I could across the fence for the livestock to nose through.

Resources for How to Prune Tomato Plants for Maximum Yield and Good Plant Care

Soaker hoses– never all water to cause fungus or encourage blight by using a soaker hose

Pruning shears– for small tomato plants I use my fingers, but for the larger vines, I use pruning shears. If you can't easily pinch them off, you don't want to leave a gaping wound by ripping it.

This year, we put up a high-tunnel, or a.k.a. off-grid greenhouse. I was through taking chances with our rainy weather. I'm also thinking it's the reason we're having an unseasonably hot and dry season…. kind of like wash your car it will rain. Put up a greenhouse and it won't!

Want to know how we tie up our tomatoes (check out the video below Tying up Tomatoes [DIY tomato trellis that works BETTER than cages] )

I also invested in a soaker hose. Not one drop of water was going to touch my tomato plants this year. After raising my darlings from seed in the house, taking a full two weeks to hardening them off, you can bet I wasn't done after I'd planted them in the ground.

One of the secrets to a good tomato harvest and larger tomatoes, is in the pruning. Why prune a tomato plant you ask?

A bit different than pruning a regular fruit tree, but the end result is the same. A better harvest.

How to Prune Tomatoes

There are two reason we want to prune our tomato plants. One is to eliminate chances for disease in the first place. Any of the leaves that touch the soil should be removed. If they drop down into the soil, they'll get water on them and act as a ladder for any disease to climb up into the plant. Any of the leaves that appear damaged, yellowing, spotty, or dying should also be removed, they can be the beginnings of blight and you want that eradicated immediately and done when pruning determinate tomatoes.

Wondering when to start pruning tomato plants?

As soon as they bottom leaves are dragging the dirt with at least two to three branches above them. Never remove all the leaves, your plant does them to grow and thrive.

The second reason is your tomato plant will put more energy into the foliage if not pruned than it will into producing fruit. We don't tons of lush green leaves, we want tons of ripe tomatoes. A bonus reason is we want plenty of air circulation around the ripening fruit and too many leaves don't allow for good air flow. Below I've got how to prune tomato plants pictures for ya.

Damaged leaves and also touching the soil need to be removed.

You'll want to prune off all the lower leaves that can or are touching the soil. You may use pruning shears or just use your thumb and pinch them off if small.

How to Prune Indeterminate Tomatoes

pinching out tomato side shoots, picture of pruning sucker shoots

The second item you'll want to prune is the sucker shoots. This is true for Indeterminate tomato plants, not determinate. Say what, a determined tomato? No, not quite. Don't worry, I got ya covered.

Most heirloom tomato plants are indeterminate and need the sucker shoots removed. We grow an all heirloom garden so we're safe there. However the packet of seeds you used should tell you which kind it is. If not, here's the basic difference between them.

Determinate tomato plants are bushy, not tall, yield all of their crop in one to two weeks, and it dies after the first crop.

Indeterminate tomato plants are taller, need to be staked or caged, produce fruit until the first frost, and do best when their sucker shoots are removed.

Now that you know what kind of tomato plant you have, what's a sucker shoot?

Sucker shoots grow in the crotch of the branch, between the main stem or trunk of the tomato and the branch. They grow up right. They will produce flowers and fruit, but too many of them and they compete with the main plant and will actually produce a smaller tomato and harvest.

If you remove all of them, you do cut into your overall yield. I prefer to leave about two to three sucker shoots on my larger plants. It's totally up to you how many to leave or not leave.

Take your discarded leaves away from your plants

If you leave them, it won't hurt your plant, but the plant will do better without them. Just pinch it off with your thumb.

Don't leave your pruned leaves on the ground by your tomato plant. Discard of them away from the garden.

How to prune your tomatoes for the best harvest ever. Start now for a larger crop yield.

One note of caution, if your tomatoes are in direct sunlight, don't remove so many of the branches there isn't any shade left for the tomatoes. Tomatoes need to be shaded by the leaves so they don't become burnt in the hot sun.

Will you look at these beauties, just waiting to turn to drops of rubies in a few more weeks. Is your mouth watering thinking of all the tomato fun we'll have in the kitchen? Or maybe a fried green tomato to get things started early…

P.S. pruning tomato plants in pots? Same procedures.

Now that you know how to prune tomato plants do you have any other best tomato growing tips?

10 Easy Steps to Grow Your Own Food

April 2, 2014 by Melissa Norris 11 Comments

There is little else more rewarding than growing your own food. It cuts down on your grocery bill, improves your health, makes you more self-sustainable, brings families together, and brings us closer to God.

If you've never grown your own food or had a garden, it can feel a little bit intimidating. It seems everyone has tons of advice on the wrong and right way to do things. But you just want to get growing. These 10 steps will get you growing your own food in no time.

Today's post is for beginner gardeners, but even if you're someone who is a life long gardener, there's some tips in here for you as well. I believe we're all on learning journey and can always learn more from others, so please, share your best tips in the comments section.

You've decided to plant a garden, congrats! Starting is often the hardest part, but you'll do great, and these tips are sure to help get your garden off to it's best start.

1. Know thy soil. Knowing what type of soil you have is very important for the success of your garden. You're thinking, I just want to put my plants in the dirt and get going, but trust me, you'll save yourself a ton of heartache if you do a little bit of prep work first.

Hang with me for a moment as we get a bit scientific. Your soil ph level will either be acidic, alkaline, or neutral. There are do it yourself tests at home, here's one from our affiliate partner Amazon Luster Leaf 1601 Rapitest Soil Test Kit or you can send off to have it tested at your local county extension office.

An easy way to know your soil ph's level is if you have a hydrangea plant. If the blossoms are blue your soil is acidic, if it's pink, your soil is alkaline. Or try this at home soil test with vinegar and baking soda. Note: this will show extremes, it won't measure exactly or within a few points.

Mixing Coffee Grounds into Soil for amending ph level and creating fertile ground for your plants

2. Amend your soil accordingly. Now that you know your soil's ph level you'll need to amend your soil or change the PH level. But how? It's easy peasy. If your soil is too alkaline add coffee grounds, citrus peels, peat moss, or pine needles.

If your soil is to acidic add lime or wood ash.

Our soil is slightly acidic, which works well for raspberries, blueberries, and potatoes. However, beets and brassicas like neutral soil, so we add the ash from our wood stove in the area we plant our beets and other brassicas, like cabbage, broccoli, etc.

We add well rotted (not fresh, it's too hot and will burn your plants) chicken and cattle manure, with leaves, and straw. We use the refuse from the animals on our farm. If you have a local farm, they'll let you haul off manure for free. I'd make sure they only feed organic food if using the poop for your garden. Most plants are heavy nitrogen feeders, so this helps add nitrogen and organic matter back into our garden soil.

3. Plant what you eat. I have a free chart and guide in my Heirloom Gardening Guide-Planting to Save Money, when you sign up for my email list. This will look slightly different for each family. Don't plant something your family doesn't like and won't eat a lot of. If you only like a few eggplants a year, don't bother planting them. If you eat cucumbers and potatoes all year long, then plant them.

4. Start small. If you're anything like me, you like to jump in both feet first. When planting, it's easy to slip in another row or grab two more packets of seed. But the care, harvest, and preserving of all those plants can be overwhelming. Don't set yourself up for failure. Start with the main crops your family eats the most of. Once you've mastered those, add in more.

5. Where to get you seed. I'm a big believer in heirloom seeds. Our garden is completely heirloom plants only, in fact our bean seed has been saved and passed down in our family for over 100 years. You can ask gardening friends for some heirloom seed or order on line. Two companies I trust for non-GMO, organic, and heirloom seeds are Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and our affiliate partner Seeds for Generations. Seeds for Generations is an heirloom company ran by a father and his children, which started when he was teaching them about gardening. I love those kind of stories and supporting small folks.

6. When to plant. It's important to know when to plant your seeds. In order to do this, you need to know the last frost date for your area. Reading the back of the seed package will tell you when to put your seeds out according to the date. We put our warm weather plants out the third to last week of May. We harvest almost all of our warm weather plants by mid-September. Find your last frost date here.

Keeping track of all your gardening things will make life much easier. Here's a great free chart on when to start your seeds for both indoors or direct outdoor sowing.

7. Commit to your garden. Know and commit to spending time in your garden. Tell yourself you're going to do one thing every day for your garden. Some days it might just require walking through and inspecting things. Other days you'll be weeding, picking, or watering.

Fencing is an option to keep deer and other critters our of your vegetables.

8. Don't be afraid of failure. Even the most experienced gardeners have plant and crop failure. Gardening is a journey. Every season and year you'll learn more and new things. If you have a total flop on your tomatoes this year, talk to other folks, read books, listen to podcasts, and learn what to try differently. Everyone suffers a gardening loss at sometime. Don't let it stop you from learning and pressing on.

How to grow basil indoors all winter long without soil. Harvest fresh herbs year round and never plunk down money at the store for herbs again.

9. Have a natural pest control plan. We live way out in the sticks. Deer are one of the worst pests to our garden. We have our fruit trees and vegetable garden fenced. This also helps if our cows happen to get out. Here's a great article on the 10 Tips for Organic gardening and pest control

10. Don't let the size of your planting space deter you. Not everyone has a huge yard or acreage for planting. Don't let this stop you. Many plants can be grown in containers. Small blueberry bushes do well in containers, as well as almost every herb, strawberries, garlic, and tomatoes.

Need more gardening help? Check out all of our gardening articles here to get you going.