David,

Without more information about the size of the plants, it's not really possible to know how large the rootball should be. It's not the height that matters, but the size and number of trunks. The dripline is also not really important, because that would vary with the habit/form/shape of the plant. In other words, a plant with a more spreading habit/form/shape doesn't require any larger rootball than a more tall/vertically-growing plant. A picture, with something for scale, might help a little.

Generally, I will say that I'd expect an average 25 year old blueberry bush to be fairly large and require a large rootball. Part of your decision about how large the rootball should be will likely be based on how large of a rootball you are able to dig and handle.

One thing you should be aware of is that pruning the plant back will increase the time it takes for the plant to become established. By leaving the plant unpruned, you will maximize your plant's ability to make food and supply energy to quickly reestablish its root system. Of course you should remove any dead or diseased branches or trunks.

Oh, I forgot about the heeling in part....

There's no problem with doing this assuming you keep the rootball intact and supply sufficient soil moisture. If I didn't have to move them now (if there wasn't a valid reason for doing so now), I'd just wait until I got their new home ready. But, if you need to move them now, heeling them in would be the best way to hold them until they could be permanently planted.

Brandon, I understand your advice about the number of trunks, it makes sense now that I think about it. The reason I am in sort of a rush to move them is that I would like to get them in their new site before they begin to break dormancy. They would make the transition better if I can do so. I also understand your advice about leaving as many trunks as I can. I had always been taught to cut back on the above ground part, because the roots could not support all of the leaves. But, again, it does make sense that the more leaves producing food, the faster the root system would recover. I will have to make sure that they don't lack for water. That would be the only problem I could foresee in leaving so much top growth.

Something that I just thought about, I would assume that it would be best to limit the amount of fruit that the bushes set too. The bushes trying to produce and ripen fruit would also take away from re-establishing the root system.

Thanks for your advice,

David

The idea of moving them before they break dormancy is valid IF you planted them before that time. However, if you are only heeling them in to replant them later, I don't see any benefit along those lines.

You are right about limiting fruit set. The energy needed to produce the fruit could be used to grow roots, especially with a relatively smaller rootball.

I've never moved a 25 year old blueberry and I live farther north where such transplants may be easier because of a weaker sun but I've moved 10 year old plants succesfully a number of times. I would only attempt moving such old plants if they were still vigorous growers.

The roots were so concentrated under the blueberry bushes in the soils I've moved them from (mulched plants with lots of organic matter in the soil) that the plants told me how much root to move because the root balls lifted easily from the soil holding lots of soil as I bare rooted them out of the ground. Very little root need be lost in the process if your plants have this kind of root system.

Blueberry plants I moved suffered very little, easier than most fruit trees I transplant, although any reduction in cropping- even stripping all flowers will be helpful for a year or 2 as plants re-establish. It would be best to move them and plant them in one step if possible- especially if you aren't going to ball them up.

The caveat here should be that I've heard other experienced plantsmen call blueberries a fairly difficult transplant. I don't know why their experiences don't match mine. Now if someone can tell me a good method for transplanting pears.

I assume your moving it for sentimental reasons, as at 25 years old it is at the end of its productive life. Cutting it back and adding new organic material at planting, may help rejuvenate the plant.

Blueberries have a fine root system, as you know, so the bigger the root ball you dig up..the better its chance of survival. The drip line should be fine, but if you are finding small roots, make the ball larger.
Take as much of the surrounding soil as possible, and use it to fill in, around at planting. Remove 2/3 of the growth; you will have to remove this or it will die when it breaks dormancy. It will be tempting to leave the larger branches, but do not. Small new growth will help the plant grow, but not sap its energy. Also, check the PH of the new soil and amend accordingly

You can plant it as soon as you can break up the soil or heel it in, till then. Snow will not bother it once its planted, as long as it is dormant. Fertilize it once it begins to leaf out and water it, as if it were any other new plant.

Mr. Ed,

Can you give us some references to scientific studies or research (not nursery instructions, which of course, do sometimes recommend such practice) that recommends removing 2/3 of a blueberry plant or any shrub, for that matter, at the time of transplant? In my experience and understanding, pruning back can help in the very short-term when transplanting a plant with a very small root system relative to the rest of the plant, but, in those cases, is a definite mid-term trade-off, slowing establishment. With a decent sized root system, I can't see how such a sacrifice is warranted. Certainly it isn't on most shrubs with anywhere near reasonably sized rootballs. Everything I see pretty much goes along with the information on shown on my link above (just a random example of many of such documents). I linked another one below, just for the heck of it.

Rejuvenating the plant after establishment is probably a great idea, but that's a different matter.

I believe that once plants reach full sexual maturity the issue of the value of cutting back wood to aid the roots becomes a bit murky. All of Carl Whitcombs experiments were done with juvenile plants and as he himself states in his book, "Est. and Mtnc...", that there is a specific pecking order in the distribution of energy resources in plants favoring fruit over root. Plants also tend to favor flowers and spurs over roots once they are mature enough to be producing them.

With well spurred mature fruit plants I often cut back spur-wood to increase a plants vigor including during transplant. Blueberry plants are pruned by removing oldest wood on a regular basis and it makes sense that favoring juvenile wood and cutting out a quantity of larger older wood during transplant might help the plant reestablish.

I believe that once plants reach full sexual maturity the issue of the value of cutting back wood to aid the roots becomes a bit murky. All of Carl Whitcombs experiments were done with juvenile plants and as he himself states in his book, "Est. and Mtnc...", that there is a specific pecking order in the distribution of energy resources in plants favoring fruit over root. Plants also tend to favor flowers and spurs over roots once they are mature enough to be producing them.

With well spurred mature fruit plants I often cut back spur-wood to increase a plants vigor including during transplant. Blueberry plants are pruned by removing oldest wood on a regular basis and it makes sense that favoring juvenile wood and cutting out a quantity of larger older wood during transplant might help the plant reestablish.

I believe that once plants reach full sexual maturity the issue of the value of cutting back wood to aid the roots becomes a bit murky. All of Carl Whitcombs experiments were done with juvenile plants and as he himself states in his book, "Est. and Mtnc...", that there is a specific pecking order in the distribution of energy resources in plants favoring fruit over root. Plants also tend to favor flowers and spurs over roots once they are mature enough to be producing them.

With well spurred mature fruit plants I often cut back spur-wood to increase a plants vigor including during transplant. Blueberry plants are pruned by removing oldest wood on a regular basis and it makes sense that favoring juvenile wood and cutting out a quantity of larger older wood during transplant might help the plant reestablish.

Sorry about the repeated messages. I'm tech challenged

I'd like to see something that supports that view. I see lots of information that points the other direction, but no scientific studies or information to confirm it. My own experience, in general, also points, with the written evidence, against it. The woody plants, including very large, mature shrubs, that I deal with seem to bounce back more quickly when pruning is minimized. Also, it just doesn't make sense to me that dis-favoring older wood by cutting it out would help reestablishment. In fact, it just seems completely counter-intuitive to me. Removing stored energy, reducing capacity to make more energy, creating additional wounds that require energy to seal off, and removing/reducing the chemical signals that say "grow more roots" doesn't seem like a good way to get more roots.

Of course, Mr. Ed didn't make the argument that cutting back growth aided reestablishment. He only indicated that removal of top growth was necessary for the plant's survival. My feeling on that is that if you have to cut back topgrowth you're doing something wrong. A sufficient rootball should be dug so that the plant is not in critical condition to start with.

As I said above, once the shrub is established, remove the old wood, start rejuvenation, and work on increasing fruit production.

How about taking a lot of cuttings as an insurance policy? So even if the original plants die you will have direct descendents.

Brandon, before I invest time in trying to find the bits and pieces of information I've picked up over the years, such as that peaches have been shown to increase in actual size after more aggressive pruning compared to less (because of less energy invested in fruit production), I'd like you to steer me to a single piece of research based on cutting back bearing wood on mature plants at transplanting as opposed to immature plants. Not that I'd be convinced if you found the research that it holds true for all species, because I feel certain it doesn't, but it will motivate me to go to the effort.

It doesn't matter if wood stores energy if it doesn't share it with the roots. Check the literature for what you do with a spur-bound apple or pear tree. You cut back the spurs (sexually mature wood) to encourage vegetative (sexually immature) growth.

I have the benefit of watching the results of the removal of such wood on a regular basis and it is a routine treatment of some of the trees I manage. You remove enough of the spur wood and the trees start growing more vigorously. Trees that have been declining in size have started growing again.

The reason immature fruit trees grow proportionately faster than mature trees is because juvenile wood doesn't spare energy for fruit and flowers which is very expensive and it is well known that regardless of rootstock you can greatly control the size of most species of fruit trees by accelerating the beginning of fruit production.

The greatest managment risk in commercially growing fully dwarf apples is having them fruit excessively when they are too small- they often permanently runt out. Plants runt out when inadequate energy is being sent to the roots. Vegetative wood generously feeds the roots while fruiting wood is very stingy.

I transplant hundreds of bearing age fruit trees on semi-dwarfing rootstock annually, and one of my biggest problems is having peaches runt out- the treatment- aggressive pruning. It is also the way to get them to avoid the problem in the first place.

I know that all, and I mean all, of Carl Whitcomb's research was based on work with a few species of very young plants, so I can't go there for researched information. Show me where to go, Brandon, for some actual research on mature plants and I'll continue this discussion, but as it stands, I just have seen too many instances where pruning back has stimulated growth on mature trees. As far as blueberry plants, I'm not so sure one way or the other.

When I got out of hort-school I had all the confidence as you in the research I'd been stuffing my head with (and a good thing- it helped me disguise my inexperience). Actual experience has made me much more skeptical of sweeping assumptions based on very limited research.

Much more comprehensive medical research than research we are discussing here is often contradicted by subsequent research. I'm sure this would happen more with hort research if it was pursued with similar aggression and funding.

I agree that the bushes should be pruned by removing a lot of the older growth. I personally think that you shouldn't have any very old canes in a blueberry bush anyway...they're unproductive, both in terms of fruit and leaves, and are likely a big drag on the overall plant health. Any blueberry expert will tell you to get rid of old growth.

As for them reaching the end of their life, I also think that's not true. I've personally seen plantings in Michigan that are 50+ years old and still quite productive, because they've been pruned, watered, and fertilized correctly.

Harvestman,
It seems to me that you're making assumptions based on things that don't exactly correlate with the topic at hand, but maybe I'm just not seeing it the same as you. At any rate, I've presented my position. The research seems pretty clear to me and my experience seems to mirror the literature, so until something new comes along, I'm satisfied. Besides that, we seem to be getting away from what Mr. Ed was talking about to start with.

Fruitgirl,
I'd guess that most everyone here already knows that rejuvenating the blueberries would make them more productive (once they're established). Mr. Ed had recommended removal of 2/3 of the topgrowth, at transplant, so that the blueberries would not "die when (they) break dormancy." If you were addressing that topic and the posts that have followed, that's a whole different ball of wax.

That does bring up a whole new aspect though. If the blueberries can be left in place for a while (at least until fall), rejuvenating them now, and maybe even shovel pruning some of the roots, could go a long way towards giving the plant an even better chance of survival after transplant.

Brandon, what research and what literature? Anything at all pertaining to mature plants?

I wonder what you are missing in my explanation. Anything that increases the energy directed to root growth aids the establishment of transplanted plants. Producing flowers and fruit takes away that energy and although you can remove flowers in spring and it's well known that this helps transplants establish, those flowers have already been sucking energy from the plant to become flower buds for the entire previous season.

Sometimes when you remove wood that is very spury and doesn't produce much vegetative wood it can be stimulating to overall growth of plants. In these spur-bound situations it is not enough to remove the flowers because the wood continues to suck energy to form flower buds for next year. It is very possible that the older wood in blueberries could act the same way,so it is pertinent to the question of what is the best approach to transplanting old blueberry plants.

Have you ever transplanted any spurry bearing age fruit trees?

I moved 5 blueberry bushes the last two days. I dug out around the bushes about a foot in a circle and would slowly start lifting upwards, and soon enough the whole rootball was free. The rootballs were very heavy, so you might need some help. I dug the holes i was moving the to ahead of time. I'd get to doing it soon since the warm has arrived. These plants were only 3 to 4 years old.

I guess i'll find out how it went in a few months!

Don't worry about it and just get out there if you really need to move them. I've always had success in rainy/cool weather (i moved 9 large arbor vitae LATE last spring in a rainstorm and EVERYONE of them survived and even put on growth).