Rainline Garden
Growing Blueberries in the Pacific Northwest
Blueberries love the Northwest's acidic soil and wet winters. How to plant them, which varieties to pair, and how to get a big harvest for decades.
If there's one fruit made for Northwest gardens, it's the blueberry. Many of our soils are naturally acidic, winters are mild enough west of the Cascades, and summer brings the long, bright days the berries need to ripen. Oregon and Washington are among the country's biggest blueberry-growing states for good reason. A few well-placed bushes can feed a family for 30 years or more.
Get the soil right first
Blueberries need acidic soil, ideally with a pH of about 4.5 to 5.5. That's more acidic than most vegetables like. A soil test tells you where you're starting; many west-side soils are already close, while east-side soils are often too alkaline and need more work or a raised bed.
- Mix peat moss or acidic compost into a wide planting area, not just the hole.
- If the pH is too high, elemental sulfur lowers it slowly. Add it months ahead of planting if you can, and follow the amount your soil test suggests.
- Blueberry roots are shallow and fine, and they rot in standing water. In heavy clay, plant in a raised bed or a broad mound.
Pick two or more varieties
Northern highbush blueberries, the type grown across the Northwest, can set fruit on their own, but planting two or more varieties that bloom around the same time usually gives you bigger berries and more of them. Mixing early, mid and late varieties also stretches the harvest over the whole summer. Good choices here include:
- Duke, an early variety.
- Bluecrop, a dependable midseason standard.
- Chandler, a late variety known for very large berries.
Planting and mulch
Plant in fall or early spring, in full sun, about 4 to 5 feet apart. Set the plant at the same depth it grew in the pot. Then mulch with 2 to 3 inches of sawdust, bark or wood chips and keep that mulch topped up every year. It holds moisture around the shallow roots, keeps weeds down, and slowly adds organic matter.
For the first year, pinch off the flowers. It feels wasteful, but it lets the plant build roots and branches, and you'll get much bigger harvests in the years that follow.
Water, feed and protect
- Water through the dry summer. Shallow roots dry out fast. Drip irrigation or a soaker hose under the mulch is ideal.
- Feed lightly in spring with a fertilizer made for acid-loving plants such as rhododendrons and azaleas. Too much fertilizer can burn the roots.
- Net the bushes as berries start to color. Birds find ripe blueberries fast.
Pruning
After the first few years, prune in late winter while the plants are dormant. Remove dead or damaged wood, crossing branches and a few of the oldest, thickest canes at the base. Younger canes produce the best fruit, so the goal is a steady supply of new ones.
