Bilberry
How to plant blueberry bushes?
To grow blueberries successfully, choose a sunny, well-drained spot in your garden. Bilberries prefer acidic, humus-rich and cool soil. Before planting, be sure to prepare the soil well by decompacting it and incorporating compost or leaf compost.
Bilberry plants are best planted in autumn or spring. Dig a hole twice as wide and deep as the root ball. Add a little heather soil to the bottom of the hole and place the root ball of your bilberry plant, making sure that the neck of the plant is flush with the surface of the soil. Fill the hole with a mixture of heather soil and compost, then pack well. Water thoroughly after planting.
For better pollination and a better harvest, plant at least two varieties of blueberry close together. By following these simple tips, you'll be able to enjoy delicious blueberry berries in your garden without using chemical fertilisers.
What is the ideal size for a blueberry bush?
To prune a blueberry tree properly, it's important to distinguish between the different types of pruning. Formation pruning is done at planting time, by shortening branches to encourage a good start for the shrub. Maintenance pruning is carried out at the end of winter, before vegetation starts, by removing dead or diseased branches to improve air circulation and fruit growth. Finally, fruiting pruning is carried out after the harvest, eliminating the oldest branches to encourage the appearance of new fruiting branches.
It's important to know that blueberry fruit appears on the previous year's twigs. So, to encourage good fruit production, it is advisable to prune while maintaining a balance between old and young shoots. It is also advisable not to prune fruit-bearing branches too much, so as not to compromise the forthcoming harvest.
How to harvest blueberries successfully
Blueberries are generally harvested in July, when the fruit is fully ripe and dark blue in colour. To harvest blueberries, it is best to pick them by hand, taking care not to crush them. Regular picking is recommended to prevent the fruit from rotting on the shrub.
Freshly picked bilberries can be stored in the fridge for about a week. They can also be frozen to keep for longer. To do this, arrange them on a baking tray covered with greaseproof paper and place in the freezer. Once frozen, blueberries can be kept for up to a year.
Bilberry
- Type : Fruit trees
- Botanical Family : Ericaceae
Characteristics
- Exposure : Partial Shade
- Frost Hardiness : Frost Resistant
- Cultivation Difficulty : Easy
- Adult Height : 60 cm
Maintenance
- Maintenance : Moderate
- Water Requirements : Moderate
Seeds
- Soil Type : Humus-rich
- Soil pH Preference : Neutral
- Pest Sensitivity : Moderate
- Disease Sensitivity : Moderate
- Weed Sensitivity : Low
- Pollination : Insect-pollinated
- Propagation : Sowing