Everconsidered an edible hedgerow?
Blueberries are perfect, you get 4 seasons of interest, wildlife food, early flowers for bees, and best of all an healthy treat for you.
Planting in a row also allows you to easily cover if you wish to do so to protect from the birds. (although if you plant an entire hedge there should be enough for all)
http://www.plantra.com/Blueberry-Netting
Choose your varieties for your spaces and or containers. They range in heights from 18 - 24 inches tall to over 8 feet.
Check with your local extension office for the varieties that grow best in your region.
Blueberries are naturally pest resistant so they are great for growing organically.
They do like acidy soil Pine Straw is a way to make the soil perfect organically as it breaks down.
Most bluberries bloom white but I know of one variety we added to our double lined patch that blooms a pink color. 'Sunshine Blue' it is also supposed to be a bit more compact. they have withstood alot of dry times already since planting in May/Mothers Day I am even giving one a try in a porch container to accompany my other small variety 'Top Hat.'
The foilage in the winter is sparce and twiggy but mine never loose all of their leaves.
Summer they bush out and are quite dense. one practice to add to maintenance each year. Remove dead or damaged branches. Blueberries bear in the summer, I try to make sure fruit is really plump by giving supplemental water at least every other day.
Fall you get amazing colors and in a mass hedge planting this can be absolutely stunning.
If you want to grow your stand after you see how quick and easy blueberries are to grow. You can dig new rooted shoots from the base of the plant in the winter (we do it about Feburary here in SC)
I hope this inspires you to plant a couple Blueberries, they are easily incorporated into landscaping, even existing planting beds.
Thank You for taking the time to check out this post
Green It Forward. EarthSource Services ~Victoria
(photos in the blog are not mine)
Blueberries really are amazing, we have two that have been planted in crappy soil (scrapings from when we built the house) for over 15 years, they have not done much size wise but this year they are full, bushy, and hanging with berries biggest clusters ever. I guess they heard me talking about moving them...LOL...after all their berries come off we will be giving all the bushes a mulching of house manure and pinestraw to get them thru to 2014.
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