Hi everyone: Thanks for all of your comments! This is what I've decided to do: I'm going to amend the soil this summer, let it lay fallow over the winter and put the berries in early next spring. To do this I'm going to "roundup" the marginal amount of grass on the site and turn over the soil/sod, incorporating elemental sulfur and pine sawdust (and pine needles if I can find a source). I'm not planning to dig down past about 8" - I've been told by several folks that as long as I don't go into the sand or gravel of the field I should be ok. Once that's done, I'll mulch the whole shebang with pine chips for the winter. I would like to plant blueberry sod, but the price for the size area I'm covering ($3/ft) is pretty steep for me (plus husband will have a heart attack). I've found a source in Fryeburg, Maine that sells lowbush blueberry plugs and so I'm thinking I'll go with that, or perhaps a combination of plugs and sod. This is all kind of risky, given how dry the leach field gets in the high summer, but a) I think the mulch with help somewhat; and b) there are lots of blueberries growing on Pum Island on the sand dunes and they seem to survive the lack of water ok. So, once again thanks for all of your interest. If any of you have leads on other sources for lowbush blueberry stock I'd appreciate the tips. I'll post a follow up next spring (hopefully with pictures) to show what I did. Have a lovely growing season, papercarver

We have several lowbush varieties, along with both highbush and half-high blueberries. The lowbush have similar requirements for sun, soil pH, and moisture. The main issue is that you need to be two feet tall in order to pick the fruit without stooping. Lowbush varieties have one big advantage over the taller shrubs. They are routinely snowed under in the winter, which goes a long way to protect the shrub from browsing rabbits and deer. Also moose, if you live in Maine or Canada...I believe that the extensive lowbush blueberry beds in Maine are harvested by machine, a type of rotating horizontal brush mounted on a tractor. After harvest, the entire bed is mowed down, and allowed to lie fallow for a season, so the shrubs can recover. Then the process repeats, so there will be a harvest event every other year. It is not actually necessary to mow down your lowbush blueberry shrubs, they do fine with a little pruning now and then. In the landscape scene, they would be described as groundcover. These are pretty tough plants, better able to survive a dry spell than the highbush shrubs. If you can get the pH down to 4.5 or so, a typical shrub might produce 1/2 cup of fruit.

Hi everyone: I am looking for a New England source for lowbush blueberry plants being sold as *plugs*, not as sod or bigger potted plants. Does anyone know of a source in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts or elsewhere for these plugs? I know of a place in Fryeburg, Maine but they are out of stock until the end of the summer and I was hoping to plant this spring... thanks for all help! papercarver

Katndahat, I'm in SW Mass just about Granby,CT. I know several places you can dig up some low bush blueberries. Where in CT are you located? Janet