Landscaping with Blueberries

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After years of steady decline, gardening's popularity is once again blossoming, especially among younger Americans. Coupling high aesthetic standards with a commitment to simple living, these citizens seek do-it-themselves solutions for their lives. They find a happy intersection of frugality, health, and beauty when landscaping with blueberry plants.

As perennials, blueberries provide many years of fruit and beauty for a low initial investment, appealing to wallet of cost-conscious consumers. Virtually fat-free, blueberries combine their excellent sweet taste in little blue packages rich in anti-oxidants, fiber, and Vitamin C. As decorative plants, blueberries boast brightly-colored Spring flowers ranging from white to bright pink, and sport spectacular Fall foliage in reds, oranges, and browns. Low cost, healthful properties, and a wide variety of landscape options truly make blueberries a shrub for all seasons!

Broadly speaking, blueberries fall into three primary categories, based on their height: high-bush, hybrids, and low-bush. The high-bush blueberries typically grow 6-12 feet high, and therefore make excellent screens and windbreaks. Hybrids, typically used as hedges and borders, stand 2-4 tall. Low-bush blueberry plants usually mature at less than 1 foot high, and therefore are most used as ground-cover.

Properly-chosen, blueberries can create first-class hedges. If you seek a un-broken hedge or solid screen, plant your blueberry bushes 2.5-3 feet apart so their branches inter-lock as they grow. Using the same variety of blueberry down the entire row will provide a uniform shape to your hedge. (Most high-bush blueberries are self-pollinating, thus planting all the same variety won't reduce your fruit yield.) A tall hedge can be produced using fast-growing upright blueberry varieties like Bluejay or Jersey. Compact plants, such as Sunshine Blue, spaced 2.5 feet apart produce a shorter hedge.

Gardeners refer to any plant or shrub placed right next to your home as a foundation planting. The areas near the house can become quite hot, especially the southern exposure. Therefore, when selecting your plants, your first concern should be choosing plants that will thrive in a location a bit warmer than you'd expect. You also need to ensure the blueberries you've selected for planting will grow without significant pruning in the limited space you've allotted. Blueberry plants that grow well in containers also usually thrive as foundation plantings.

Many blueberry plants can work well in your landscape; we offer a few suggestions below:
More cold-hardy than any other high-bush blueberry, the Northland adapts easily to many different types of soil. The bright yellow trunk and branches offer a high contrast to darker plants, while its compact shape and moderate height (4-7 feet) mean it will work well in a variety of settings. A solid choice for landscaping, a mature Northland can yield more than 20 pounds of sugar-rich fruit each year. The high sugar content makes its blueberries a favorite for making jam and all sorts of baked goods.

Bluegold sports bright white Spring flowers, dramatic Fall foliage, and a golden wood in winter. Reaching a height of 4 feet, the Bluegold makes a find addition to any landscape. The sky-blue fruit of this cold-hardy variety grow in large groups, making them easy to pick, and the berries last up to five weeks in a refrigerator.

The hybrid Little Giant lives up to its name. Topping out at 4 feet, the Little Giant ushers in Spring with light-pink blooms covering the bush, and deep blue-green leaves throughout summer. Consistently rated the most flavorful of all blueberries, the small, dark-blue fruit of this variety are especially well-suited for baked goods.

For those seeking a most unusual addition to their garden, the Pink Lemonade can't be beat. The white blooms of its Spring flowers produce bright pink blueberries in Summer, and the fiery Fall foliage and red-brown Winter stems complete a full year of color for this 4-foot-high spectacle. Despite the color, the fruit of the Pink Lemonade have all the flavor of more traditionally-hued blueberries. Due to its strange genetics, this variety requires another high-bush blueberry to be planted nearby to ensure maximum yields-a minor weakness in an excellent plant.

The low-growing Patriot moves through the seasons with bright white flowers, dark green leaves, and vivid crimson Fall foliage. This 4-foot-tall hybrid can thrive in many different environments, with a higher tolerance for wet soil than most blueberries.

The hardy Legacy grows well and adapts easily to many different climates. Reaching up to 6 feet, this variety repeatedly earns top scores for fruit quality and flavor in many different trials.

The blazing orange and ruby hues of Little Crisp and Ruby Carpet will create a fiery Autumn landscape. In addition to their ornamental use, these low-bush varieties produce small, tasty fruit perfect for baking. Five square feet with 3 plants of two varieties will yield 10 pounds of fruit within 4 years. These blueberry ground-covers spread themselves up to 12 inches each year.