pruning Archives - Melissa K. Norris

How to Prune Herbs & Perennials for Maximum Growth

October 18, 2021 by Melissa Norris 9 Comments

Growing perennial herbs means you plant them once and they come back year after year. However, they're only going to come back each year if you know how to properly care for them. Learn how to prune herbs and tend to the soil for maximum growth each year, then learn how to harvest herbs and use herbs for natural home remedies.

While keeping an herb garden is a great way to eliminate one more thing that we have to rely on the stores to provide, the fragrance and blossoms provide beauty for the eye that is worth the care all on its own.

I love growing a year's worth of vegetables in my garden (and coming up with a plan to preserve it all), a year's worth of berry plants in my yard, and raising a year's worth of meat on our property for my family of four.

Thankfully, both culinary and medicinal herbs are easy to grow, easy to maintain, and can provide an endless bounty when cared for properly, meaning you can easily grow a year's worth of herbs for both cooking and countless medicinal uses.

Yarrow in the foreground and lavender in the background.

Perennial Herbs vs. Annual Herbs

It's important to note the difference between perennial herbs that have a woody stem and those herbaceous herbs like basil, oregano, cilantro, lemon balm, mint, etc. that do not have woody stems and may not survive the winter months.

(I will say that by growing herbaceous plants in pots tucked up next to the southern-facing wall of my house I've been able to successfully overwinter these plants in growing zone 7. You can see more about how I overwinter herbs in this blog post/video.)

Those herbaceous plants that do survive year after year simply need to be brushed off and cleared of any dead leaves or branches, but may also benefit from dividing and transplanting, soil amendment and shaping. Typically speaking, these plants don't need actual “pruning” though.

Watch as I clean up my second-year herb garden in the video below.

Seed Saving

Those herbs that don't typically survive the winter can oftentimes be seed-saved and replanted, or, if the plant was allowed to go to seed in the fall, may re-seed themselves year after year, as the case with chamomile.

If this happens you may need to thin your plants so they don't crowd out other herbs you want to fill in.

Both perennial herbs and annual herbs can provide you with a never-ending supply if properly maintained.

While you're cleaning up, pruning, and thinning your herbs, it's a great time to also do some weeding. Removing unwanted plants and weeds is a good practice throughout the year as they oftentimes grow and overtake a garden bed faster than the plants you actually want in the bed.

Watch the video below, and read the rest of this post for properly pruning herbs, cleaning up the herb garden, and maintaining herbs for maximum yield and harvest.

You can also watch the video where I planted this herb garden from seed.

How to Prune Herbs

Each year, perennial herbs like lavender, rosemary, and thyme will die back in the fall and need to be pruned in early spring, ideally while the plant is still dormant.

This looks a bit different for each herb (watch the video above to see how I prune each different herb), but all perennial herbs will benefit from being pruned back and shaped.

As the plants mature they will grow outwards and will benefit from regular pruning each year, as well as light pruning throughout the summer months as you harvest herbs for use.

Remove Dead Leaves & Branches

To prune herbs, you're actually just removing the previous year's dead herbs. But not all herbs like to be pruned completely back to the ground.

Before you just start cutting away, take a look at the plant to see if there is any new growth coming up from the base, or if any of the previous stems from last year are producing new green leaves.

Shaping the Plant

While pruning, this is a great opportunity to shape and maintain the size of growing plants.

If your plants are still small, you may not need to shape them yet. However, well-established plants can easily take over a space, or begin to compete for space in a smaller garden area.

You can often divide plants and transplant them to other areas of your yard, or gift them to friends and neighbors looking to start or expand their own herb gardens.

To shape a plant, try to imagine the shape you'd like to achieve, and prune in a manner that the new growth will mimic. It's better to prune back to green healthy growth and maintain a bushy plant, rather than let it get leggy or overly long and spindly.

For some herbs, this isn't possible as you're actually cutting back all growth. For these plants, you want to simply consider their size and whether they should be divided.

Freshly composted soil around the base of an elderberry bush.

Maintain Spacing

When planting an herb garden, it's important to leave ample space between plants as they'll continue to grow and expand year after year.

If plants are beginning to encroach on each other, it's time to divide and transplant, or divide and give away.

Sometimes I need to expand my beds if my herb bushes are getting too close to the surrounding grass (I like my herbs more than my grass anyway!).

To do this I take a square, flat-headed shovel and simply cut straight down through the soil to sever any grass roots. I then dig up the top layer of soil and remove it, then amend and fill in the space with compost and mulch.

A woman pulling weeds from her herb garden.

Remove Weeds

We don't want our herbs having to compete with weeds. Early spring is a great time to get into our gardens and pluck any weeds just starting to grow as they're much easier to remove before they set larger roots.

Once weeds are removed, adding a layer of compost and mulch can help to prevent weeds from returning. Or, it can at least suppress their growth causing them to come back more slowly.

Transplanting Herbs

As mentioned above, when your herbs get too big for their space, you can easily transplant them to another area of your yard or give them to a friend.

This is the beauty of perennials! You should never have to buy them again. And, if you're patient, you can have enough to fill your yard, plus the yards of your friends and neighbors.

Compost & Ammend Soil

After you've pruned your herbs, divided and shaped the plants, and weeded the ground, it's time to give those herbs some nutrients.

Think of your herbs much like you would the vegetables you grow in the garden. You need to give them proper food and nutrition in order for them to produce and give back the flavor and nutrition you're hoping for.

Adding a layer of compost each year will provide the plants with the nutrients needed to grow big and strong.

Add Mulch

And because we've now spent all this time making our herbs nice and happy, let's make ourselves nice and happy by adding a layer of mulch which will help with water retention and weed control!

You can add mulch right up to the roots of well-established herbs. But for those herbs that get cut all the way back, I'd leave 3-4 inches around the base of the plant to allow the herbs to grow back easier.

For those herbs that re-seed themselves, you don't want to cover that area with mulch as those tiny seeds need to get as much sunlight as possible. A thin layer of compost around them is sufficient to help them grow.

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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