The best place plant blueberry bushes is a spot that gets full sun for 8 or more hours each day with well drained acidic soil. Your plants also need protection from strong winds that can dry them out and damage young growth. Get all three of these factors right and your bushes will thrive for decades with heavy harvests every summer.
I spent two weeks watching sun patterns in my yard before I chose where to put my first blueberry plants years ago. That front bed got morning shade from the house until almost noon. The side yard had full sun but stayed wet after rain for days at a time. My back corner turned out to be perfect with all day sun and soil that drained well within hours of any storm.
Your blueberry planting location needs to stay sunny because these plants turn sunlight into sugar for their berries. Less sun means fewer flowers and smaller harvests each year from your bushes. Shaded plants also stay damp longer after rain which invites fungal diseases to attack leaves and fruit. Aim for that 8 hour minimum of direct sun to keep your plants healthy and loaded with berries.
Blueberry roots spread wide near the surface rather than deep into the ground beneath them. This means they need soil that drains fast so roots do not sit in water after heavy rain storms. But those same near surface roots also dry out quick during hot spells between waterings. You want soil that lets water pass through yet holds enough moisture to keep roots happy between drinks.
Test your drainage before you plant by digging a hole 12 inches (30 centimeters) deep and filling it with water from a hose. Check back in four hours to see if the water has drained out of the hole. If water still sits there then that spot will drown your blueberry roots during wet seasons. Look for another location or plan to build raised beds to lift your plants above the soggy ground.
Wind protection matters more than many growers think about when picking their site. Cold winter winds can kill flower buds that form the next year harvest on your branches. Hot summer winds dry out soil and stress plants during the growing season. A fence or hedge on the north and west sides of your planting blocks the worst winds while still letting full sun reach your bushes.
Site selection blueberries also means thinking about spacing for mature plants that will grow large over many years. WVU Extension suggests planting 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 meters) apart within rows for highbush types. Leave 10 feet (3 meters) between rows if you plant multiple lines of bushes. This spacing gives each plant room to spread and lets air flow between them to reduce disease pressure.
Check that no black walnut trees grow within 50 feet (15 meters) of your chosen spot before you plant anything there. These trees release a chemical called juglone that kills blueberries and many other garden plants. The toxin spreads through roots and stays in soil for years after you remove the tree. Keep your bushes far from any walnuts in your yard or your neighbors yards nearby.
Run through this quick checklist before you commit to any location in your yard. Count sun hours on a summer day to verify you hit that 8 hour mark. Dig a test hole and fill it with water to check drainage speed. Look for wind protection on the north and west sides of the spot. Measure distance from any walnut trees you can see. Pass all these tests and you have found your perfect blueberry growing location.
Read the full article: Growing Blueberries: 7 Steps for Success
