Vegetables Gardening - Growing Organic Vegetables

 

anybody got a spacing for blueberry bushes grown Mittleidery?
would like to use a four-foot bed...i assume one row of bushes down each side, but no idea how far apart.

Blueberries are a shrub, and so can grow to be quite large.  They will grow for many years if cared for properly. 

Recommendations for planting distance range from 2' to 6' apart.  They are most often planted in the soil, in a place away from the vegetables, since they may also shade vegetable plants if they are too close to them.

If you are sure you want to plant them in a 4'-wide box in your vegetable garden I would do so on the North or East side of the garden, or at a distance greater than the normal aisle width.

Pruning will also be important.  Fall Creek Nursery has some counsel (http://www.fallcreeknursery.com/gardeners/gardeners_tips) 

1. Remove low growth around the base.
2. Remove the dead wood, leaving bright colored lateral branches. Cut out any short, discolored branches.
3. Continue pruning until you have removed 1/3 to ½ of the wood from your plants each year. Remember, this will promote growth and berry production so prune away!

Use the Mittleider Pre-Plant and Weekly Feed according to instructions in the article Feeding Trees Shrubs" in the files section above.

Jim Kennard