How to prune your blueberry bush

Knowing how to prune your blueberry bush is easy once you realize you are growing the bush for fruit production and not just ornamental purposes.

Fruiting plants tend to look a little spindly in the beginning of the season but this allows the blueberry bush to concentrate on producing fruit and not a landscape ornamental look, full of leaves and vegetation.  Although a good pruning of your blueberry bushes will cause it to fill in nicely the crop will be far better when following some simple tips of what to look for and how to effectively prune your blueberry bush.

We’ve chose to refer to a video, Pruning Blueberry Bushes, from the the University of Maine for reference; because of the climate and easy to understand steps. Here’s a few things to remember when you prune your blueberry bush:

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Haskap plants and Honeyberry explained

Honeysuckle

(fam.Caprifoliaceae)

Blue Honeysuckle

(gen. Lonicera caerulea L.), Haskap (var. Lonicera emphyllocalyx) , Honeyberry (Russian subsp./var. edulis and kamtschatic)

(Haskap is from the Japanese gene, the following are Russian Gene. Lonicera is the Honeysuckle Genus- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeysuckle , caerulea is the species of Lonicera, emphyllocalyx is the variety of L.caerulea (Lonicera caerulea var. emphyllocalyx), Lonicera caerulea var. edulis & kamtschatic.
Haskap Berries
Haskap is an amazingly hardy, fast growing, high yielding, great tasting berry bush that is relatively new to North America.

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Chester Blackberry (Thornless)

The Chester Blackberry is a semi-erect berry that produces medium to large, round berries that are very deep black in color and super sweet.

They are considered a high quality, high yield berry with uses ranging from eating them fresh, using in preserves or blackberry wine. Being the hardiest of the thornless blackberries they are easy to grow and and the potential of 10′ canes means that you will need to train them on a trellis.

Pruning the Chester blackberry and cutting the previous year’s growth to maintain the plant will keep your berry patch healthy and happy.

Hardiness in Zones: 3-8

Space: 3′-4′ apart

Sun/Shade: Full Sun