Growing Blueberries In Your Garden

Both highbush and rabbiteye blueberries (Vaccinium spp.) are hardy in most regions of the U.S. Hot humid summers are problematic for highbush varieties and extremely cold winters can be injurious for rabbiteye blueberries.

Blueberry bushes grow 8-15-feet tall, requiring annual pruning. The soil pH should be in the range of 4.2 to 5.5. Their dark green summer leaves turn scarlet red in the fall. Pale pink flowers appear in the spring followed by the berries which start out as pale-green and ripen to dark bluish-purple.

Blueberries are very shallow rooted and must be irrigated regularly over the growing season. Space blueberry bushes 5 to 7 feet apart with rows 8 feet apart. As a base mulch use fabric matt and cover it with an additional 3 to 4 inches of sawdust, wood chips or pine needles. 

Feed each bush annually with a slow release organic-based sulfur-coated fertilizer. A newly blueberry plant starts out with one ounce of ammonium sulfate to a maximum of 8 ounces of ammonium sulfate for a mature bush per year. Bushes reach full production in 5-6 years and should yield annually for 20-30 years.

For northern gardens (USDA hardiness zones 3-7), highbush blueberries ('Duke', 'Bluecrop', 'Bluejay', 'Jersey', 'Blueray' are favorite cultivars) are harvested.
In Southern gardens, rabbiteye blueberries (zones 7-9) yield best. Varieties include: ('Tifblue', 'Premier', 'Climax', 'Powderblue', 'Brightwell',  'Montgomery'). Consult the local Extension office for recommended blueberry varieties for your area.

Acclimated to southern climates (zones 6b-9), rabbiteye blueberries bloom in early spring and may be injured by late spring frosts. Varieties with a high chilling requirement may yield poorly in deep Southern areas.  Both kinds of blueberries require cross-pollination; a few varieties are  self-fruitful.

Birds love ripe blueberries as much as people do. Cover your bushes with netting to protect against birds during harvest time. Blueberries should be pruned annually.

Multi-Purpose 'Evergold' Sedge

'Evergold' sedge

Japanese sedges (Carex oshimensis)  are fine-textured variegated sedges that typically grow as low, grass-like mounds or clumps. They are found in woodlands and rocky slopes throughout Honshu Island, Japan (USDA hardiness zones 6-8).

Japanese sedges are long-living and foliage is evergreen through most of their growing range. Narrow grass-like variegated leaf blades are upwards of 16 inches long by 5/16 inch wide. Brownish flower spikes appear on triangular stems in spring and have zero ornamental value. 

There are many fine cultivars. I recommend starting with an outstanding cultivar named 'Evergold'. It grows 12 - 18 inches high and 12-18 inches in spread in full shade to partial sunlight and in moist to average soil well- drained soil. Water well after planting and regularly until established after one year. Foliage color is richer in part shade. Plants spread slowly by short rhizomes and can be propagate by rhizome division in early spring.

Space plants 10 inches apart. Group or mass as a ground cover for edging along paths or sidewalks. Utilize as a specimen accent plant in a woodland or a rock garden. Evergold sedge can be planted in low spots and along the edges of a stream, pond, or a water garden. Evergold sedges make perfect additions to mixed containers and window boxes. The leafy mounds spill over the edge of containers. 

Trim back all last year’s growth around the start of spring. No serious insect or disease problems trouble sedges and are deer resistant.

Select These Ornamental Crabapples

For those gardeners tired of Bradford pear problems, go shopping for ornamental crabapples (Malus spp.). Selected cultivars mature into lovely small spring flowering trees. Most fit under utility lines. Be careful which cultivars you choose.

Worldwide, there are over 400 cultivars of crabapples in nursery commerce. Most are susceptibility to one or more serious foliar diseases that include fire blight, cedar apple rust, apple scab, powdery mildew and frog-eye.  All 19 listed below are rated with above average disease resistance.

Ornamental crabapple fruits add ornamental beauty in fall and winter seasons. Fruit size is small, less than 5/8 inches in diameter. An extra bonus is that small birds are attracted to the fruits from late fall thru winter.  There is no mess on lawns, walkways or cars.

Consult experts at your state's land grant university for an updated listing which may also additional cultivars. Varieties 'Prairifire', 'Sugartyme', Japanese flowering crabapple (M. floribunda) and M. x sargentii are popular at garden centers nationwide.

Here is your shopping list of 18 of the best.

Adams - 20 x 20ft. (magenta flowers & red fruit)                            

Adirondack - 18 x 10 ft. (white flowers & orange-red fruit)

Cardinal® - 16 x 22 ft. (pink-red flowers & red fruit)

Centurion® - 20 x 15 ft. (pink flowers & red fruit)

David - 12 x 12 ft. (white flowers & red fruit)

Donald Wyman - 20 x 20 ft. (white flowers & red fruit)

Doubloons - 18 x 16 ft. (double white flowers & yellow fruit

Firebird® - 8 x 10 ft. (magenta flowers & red fruit)

Japanese flowering crabapple (M. floribunda) - 20 x 20 ft. (light pink flowers & dark red fruit)

Louisa - weeping 10 x 12 ft. (pink flowers & yellow fruit)

Pink Princess™- 8 x 12 ft. (rose pink flowers & red fruit)

Prairifire - 20 x 20 ft. (red-purple flowers & dark red fruit)

Purple Prince® -   20 x 20 ft. (rose red flowers & maroon fruit)

Royal Raindrops® - 20 x 15 ft. (pink red flowers & red fruit)

sargentii - short spreader 8 x 14 ft. (white flowers & red fruit)

sargentii ‘Tina’ - dwarf 5 x 6 ft. (white flowers & red fruit)

Sugartyme® - 18 x 15 ft. (white flowers & red fruit)

White Cascade® - weeping 15 x 15 ft. (white flowers & lime-yellow fruit)

zumi ‘Calocarpa’ -  20 x 24 ft. (white flowers & red fruit)

* Thanks to J. Frank Schmidt & Sons Co., Boring, OR for their cultivar height and width data and foliar disease ratings.