winter squash, make some hills with good composted manure between the berries, put in a few winter squash seeds and let them run..neither like over head watering, and the squash helps with weed suppression... not sure if you have heard of this but... it is common practice around here(there are thousands of acres of commercial blue berries near us) to hill the blue berries liberally with soft wood sawdust, hard wood would be even better if you can get it. tomatoes and blue berries like opposite soil ph far as i know.

Hi Charina, those are good suggestions about using baskets and pots and physical barriers. It’s just that I’ve taken the approach of disturbing the tree roots as little as possible and using small plants so I didn’t have to dig large holes in the root zone of the tree. It is actually very difficult to dig even a small or moderate size hole, let alone a large one. And after much discussion with others who had experience with Silver Maple trees, there really is very little in the way of a physical barrier that could stop their roots. [g] So I’ve taken the approach of right plant right place, thinking there has to be plants that will grow in these conditions. And I haven’t done too bad. After a lot of experimentation, I have Cornus racemosa, Blue hollies, Viburnum ‘Wentworth’, Oakleaf Hydrangea and Clethra all growing well close to the trees. I’m trying to get a Rhododendron established and even that is going better than I expected after a slow start. I think my PH is more an issue with that right now. And I’ve found a number of perennials that do fine. As for the peat being added to the blueberry planting, I’m glad that will be a pretty good solution short term. I wish I had done that with some of my Rhododendron experiments. I may go back and replant a couple of them. I have been reading posts on watering the blueberries with acidified water, adding vinegar to it. Is that something you think would be beneficial and would it have any drawbacks? When you say ‘amend continually’ you mean adding sulfur once a year? I would imagine in the Fall? And if I am adding sulfur once a year, is there going to be any drawbacks to doing that? I read something about salts building up, but I didn’t really understand that conversation. As for fertilization to offset the sawdust mulch, I would be adding organic fertilizer with low NPK composition as a topdressing periodically anyway, so that perhaps will not be a big issue. If I miss the mark somehow, the plant will probably tell me that pretty quickly, would you say? And at the point where it shows any signs of a problem, could I correct it then? Drew, I have never actually lived in a wooded location, I wonder if your experiences are typical of living in such close proximity to so many trees? When I was a kid we moved a lot, maybe 12 times, and never had the roof pierced by a tree or had to have the electrical service replaced even once. [g] I'm glad no one has been hurt. I wonder if you sleep with one eye open. :-)

I grow blueberries, with some success, in Madison, Wisconsin. I don't call myself an expert, but I have been doing this since around 1994, so I have had time to make many mistakes. I have no experience with "weed fabric," so I would not use it. Our shrubs are mulched with about 5 inches of shredded bark, or shredded tree leaves. I weed as necessary. Newly planted blueberry shrubs are not given fertilizer during the first 90 days. However, they are planted in a 50/50 mix of our native clay soil, and peat moss. Also, there will be 3/4 cup of agricultural sulfur in the very bottom of the hole, and another 3/4 cup of agricultural sulfur spread in a ring, around the shrub, on top of the dirt, but under the mulch. Since I don't know the pH of your soil, and the pH of your irrigation water, I really can't say if these instructions are correct for your location.

The big three soil nutrients found in fertilizer are nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. It doesn't matter if you are growing corn, peanuts, or blueberries, its the same big three. There are some other nutrients that plants need, but these are a small percentage of the total. You can pick up some Miracle-Grow and read the label, to learn more about fertilizer. Changing soil pH is not the same as adding fertilizer. Blueberries need the soil pH to be somewhere between 4.5 and 6.5, or they will not take up the nutrient that they need to grow. There are several ways to lower soil pH. Usually, granulated sulfur, aka agricultural sulfur, is mixed in with the soil before the shrub is planted. So, you have to dig out the hole, put back some of the dirt, and mix sulfur with it. Then you put the shrub in, and finish the process. Another way to lower soil pH is to mix a small, measured amount of acid with irrigation water, and put this on the ground around the shrub. For instance, I add 4 fluid ounces of white vinegar, 5% strength, from the grocery store, to every 4 gallons of tap water. We have hard water, our tap water contains dissolved limestone. The vinegar lowers the pH to around 6. However, the vinegar is consumed by soil bacteria, so the beneficial effect only lasts a month or so. The reason for testing the soil, for pH, is to keep the additions of sulfur and other additives within an appropriate range. Too much sulfur, or too much vinegar, will kill the shrub.