How to Grow Blueberries

If you like gardening, and live in a cooler climate, you might try growing your own berries. Given the right soil, berries can be very easy to grow and maintain. Strawberries are the easiest and most prolific, but raspberries and blueberries are easy as well. This article is about blueberries..

You will likely find this more "doable" in a cooler climate. The water needs for most berries are a bit much for hotter, drier climates like Texas. Berries tend to bear fruit at temperatures of 60 to 80 degrees. So If you live in a state where summer days start in the upper 70s and go up from there, you would do best to buy your berries instead!
 So, this article is based on my experience with growing blueberries in Oregon, which is a big "Berry State". Here in Oregon, you can buy 55 gallon drums of blueberries during the height of the berry season! OK, would you believe 5 and sometimes even 10 pound packages!

blueberries
blueberries

The first stage of a blueberry patch

Planting

As you see in the image, the first thing I had to do was dig up the former owner's grass! (I have an article on this - "Digging Up Grass" - which you can reach from my "Home" page.)

The first requirement is good soil! Blueberry plants, as well as any plant, grow best in rich, friable soil with lots of organic matter, usually in raised beds. I will briefly summarize the basics of prepping your soil here, however you can find this discussed in great detail in my article "Gardening Made Easy" (also accessible from a link on my Home page).

Blueberries (and probably almost all plants, given the poor soil that surrounds most homes) like raised beds. The easiest way to get a raised bed is to create mounds of a topsoil/mulch mixture. I used "Ace Potting Soil" from Ace Hardware and "Filthy Rich Mulch" (Douglas Fir based), also from Ace; the bags can be seen in the image. (We don't have Home Depot or Lowes out here on the Oregon coast!)
 Before adding the topsoil/mulch mixture, you should dig up the underlying soil a bit first, and then mix that soil in with the topsoil/mulch mixture. This way, the roots don't meet a sudden layer of hard clay soil as the plants grow.


A close-up of the blueberry bushes. This is the simplest way to have "raised beds". Just plant the bushes in mounds of amended soil (mixed with some of the existing soil). This provides drainage and helps prevent soggy root systems, but the mounds might tend to dry out faster between waterings.


So a better solution is to fill in between the mounds. Add some flagstones in between some of the mounds for access.
 TIP: If you use plant label stakes, make sure you use a Permanent marker! (And, it helps to lightly sand the label stakes as well.) When Spring arrived in the next year, I noticed that all the names washed off my stakes during the winter. I had to look at these photos to see the names!

blueberries blueberries

Well, I decided that a rock border would look much nicer. So here's a pile of rocks from the nearby mountains.


And this is the finished blueberry patch. It is well to top the beds with a layer of mulch. Always top your gardens with mulch! It retains moisture and keeps the root system cool in hot weather or warm during cold winters.
 I placed coarse pine bark nuggets around the raised area.

 These bushes were planted in 2018. To see what they looked like 1 and 4 years later, please see the bottom of the page.

rocks finished blueberry patch

Some additional information:

Douglas Fir is the preferred mulch for blueberries.

The soil should be somewhat acidic: pH of 4.5 to 5.5. Using the method described above for creating raised beds should result in an appropriately acidic soil. If the new leaves are yellow on the edges, your soil may be too alkaline. Using "Dr Earth's Acid Lovers" organic fertilizer will help.

Once planted, it is well to add some organic "starter" solution, as discussed in the "Gardening Made Easy" link above. But as a very fine alternate, simply mix some of a "natural" fertilizer into the soil that you pack around the plants.

Don't forget to water your new bushes frequently! Every 3 or 4 days might be in order, or every 2 or 3 days if there is no rain. This helps new plants get over transplant shock more easily. A great percentage of planting failures is due to insufficient water right after planting!

Blueberries are self-pollinating, but planting several cultivars will result in larger blueberries.

During the first year after planting, I removed all but a few of the blueberries that sprouted. This allows all the energy to go into growth of the bush (but lets me get a sample of what the berry will be like).

Some cultivars for the Pacific Northwest (I used some of each one). These are all "Northern Highbush" types:

Duke

Bluecrop

Spartan

Patriot

Chandler

Some links to further information from the University of Oregon:

 Growing Blueberries in Your Home Garden

Growing Blueberries

 Blueberry Cultivars for the Pacific Northwest

Cultivars


 I used to have a link to a hilarious version: "Redneck's Guide to Growing Blueberries". But, alas it's gone. So I had to remove the link.

During the growing season

Watering:
 Water thoroughly once a week during dry periods of the summer, particularly when the berries are being produced. (In Oregon, there is almost no rain during the summer months!)
 Updated 2022: Watering every 4 - 5 days is even better. And this seems to help produce larger blueberries. Blueberries need anywhere from 1.5 to 3 inches of water per week during blueberry production, according to the U of Oregon article.
 Be sure to water fairly deep, and try not to wet the foliage very much. So watering by hand or by drip irrigation is best. If possible, direct the water spray toward the base of the bushes, so the foliage doesn't get wet. Preferably water in the morning or early afternoon, so that the bushes can dry out before nightfall.
 More "during the growing season" info is discussed in the paragraphs associated with the images below. This includes fertilizing, picking the berries, and the like.

Purple leaves.
 Purple leaves can mean several things, but the two most common are:

Not quite enough nitrogen. I find it helpful to fertilize a couple times during the growing season. Once in the spring and once more during the summer. Some organic fertilizers I use for blueberries are Jobe "tomato-vegetable" fertilizer (for the extra potash), and Dr Earth "Acid-loving" fertilizer.

Leaves will also turn purple after the first few autumn chills.
This picture was taken in late September, and there had been some nights in the lower 40s. So the bushes have lots of purple leaves.

purple leaves purple leaves

The "Chandler" variety can have purple leaves from time to time, and this is apparently normal for the variety. Here's a newly-purchased Chandler plant (which was a bit spindly when I bought it).


And here's my established Chandlers. In late July some of their leaves had purple splotches, and yet none of my other varieties did so.

purple leaves purple leaves

More On watering (!):

 In Oregon, the rainy season runs from September to May or June. But the rains sometimes begin to be intermittent in May, in drier years. There may be quite a few days of rain, but the amount might be a tenth of an inch or so each day. Don't let this fool you! This is not enough water for blueberry plants that are starting their Spring growth!
 The image on the right shows what could happen if you think "Oh, the blueberries are getting plenty of rain." And those were my prized Chandlers!
 In May, blueberry plants are producing their berries as well as their leaves, and they must have that 1.5 to 3 inches discussed above. So supplemental watering is in order unless the rains have been fairly substantial.

Not enough water

Here is a Chandler bush that I didn't water soon enough. The winter rains were tapering off, but had not yet stopped. I should have begun supplemental watering about a week or two before this picture was taken. Chandlers are particularly sensitive to absense of water when producing the berries in the early spring. Thus, many of the berries shriveled up!


As a corollary to this, make SURE you add mulch in the early spring, to help keep the soil moist.

water mulch

The following sets of images show the differences, though slight, among the individual varieties of blueberries. For some, I have pictures for "year 1" and "year 3". By "year 1" and "year 3" I mean the first year after transplant, not the first year of growth from seed. All these bushes were purchased as container plants, usually 2 or 3 gallon size.
 These pictures aren't the best, and do not necessarily capture the differences in the berries. Some better ones, taken in 2020, are below the first four sets of pictures.

Dukes
Here are some Dukes in July of the first year.

Dukes

Here are the Dukes in early July of the third year.

Dukes

And here's the Dukes in late July of the third year. Dukes are by far the most prolific of the varieties, and in general the smallest. (But, regarding prolific, please see "Comments Update 2024" - the Chandlers can be prolific also after 3 or 4 years.)

Dukes


Bluecrops
Here are some Bluecrops in July of the first year. Bluecrops are the second most prolific, and can vary in size from small to medium.
 Dukes and Bluecrops are the two most common varieties available in stores in this area.

Bluecrops


And in early July of the third year.

Bluecrops


And here's the Bluecrops in late July of the third year.

Bluecrops


Patriots
Here are some Patriots in July of the first year. Patriots tend to be larger than Dukes or Bluecrops.

Patriots


Some Patriots in late July

Patriot


Spartans
Here are some Spartans in early July. Spartans are also larger than Dukes or Bluecrops.

Spartans


Chandlers
Here is an early July picture of some Chandlers. Chandlers are almost big as grapes, and are the tastiest of all the blueberries I have tried.

Chandlers


Here is a picture of some Chandlers in late July. I forgot to get any pix when they were in full bloom. There were actually around 15-20 Chandlers in a typical grouping at full bloom

Chandlers


Another picture of Chandlers

Chandlers


And here are some Dukes in July of the fourth year. Some Dukes can get as big as Bluecrops if you give 'em sufficient water.

Dukes


Some Bluecrops in July of the fourth year. Most Bluecrops can get pretty big as well, with good watering (say every 4 - 5 days)

Bluecrop


And some Patriots in July of the fourth year.

Patriots


Some Spartans in July of the fourth year.
 Alas: No giant Chandlers! They suffered a setback due possibly to lack of water in late spring (SEE the blurb "On Watering" above.)

Spartans

Five types

Samples of the Five Types of Blueberries

So here's my take of these five varieties, based on my experience, as well as my "taste panel" of my wife, my kids, and my grandkids:

Duke

The most prolific in quantity

(First year:) Usually smaller than other types. (Subsequent years:) Size ranges from small to medium)

(First year:) Not quite as tasty as the other types. (Subsequent years:) Given enough, water, can be every bit as tasty as the others)

Produce berries longer in the season than any of the others

Bluecrop

The second most prolific in quantity

Size ranges from small to medium

(First year:) Not quite as tasty as the other types. (Subsequent years:) Given enough, water, can be every bit as tasty as the others)

Produce berries somewhat longer in the season, but not as long as the Dukes

Spartan

First to produce blueberries in a given season.

Larger in size than Bluecrops and Dukes

Better tasting and sweeter than Bluecrops and Dukes

Patriot

(First year:) Larger in size than Bluecrops and Dukes. (Subsequent years:) Size ranges from small to medium.

Better tasting and sweeter than Bluecrops and Dukes

Chandler

Largest size of all. Many are as big as grapes

Tastiest of them all

Produce berries somewhat longer in the season

Chandlers MUST have extra water in the Spring when the rains taper off.


Patriots compared to Dukes and Bluecrops


Bluecrops compared to Chandlers

update 2022 update 2024

General Comments:
 On the Oregon Coast, blueberries are available for harvesting from early July to mid/late August (probably a bit longer in the interior.)
 In general, the larger the blueberry, the better tasting and sweeter it is. All five types produce some larger ones, but the Spartans and Patriots have many more large berries. However almost all the Chandlers are large.
Tips on getting bigger blueberries:
 Prune large blueberry clusters for freezing or giving to neighbors. Prune clusters with lots of new blueberries. Both of these methods encourage growth of bigger blueberries. SEE the images right below.
 If you have planted too many blueberry plants - as I certainly have - consider pruning a bit more heavily during the winter.
 On the other hand, many articles suggest that having several varieties does tend to help in producing bigger blueberries.
 And, don't forget to water every four or five days. You might keep a "water log" to remind yourself on which days you watered.

Comments Update 2022
 The above comments were made after the first year of growth. I may have prematurely dissed the Dukes and the Bluecrops on their taste and size. In 2022, the Spring was unusually cool and rainy, and it appears that weather and moisture just might have a bigger influence on berry quality than I first might have thought.
 After the cool and rainy Spring, the blueberries did not come out until early July - as might be expected. But their characteristics were different than described above:

The Patriots were smaller this year, but still as tasty as the others.

Both the Dukes and the Bluecrops (and the Spartans) were among the larger of the berries produced, and their taste was actually right up there with the Spartans and Patriots.

Nonetheless the Chandlers were still big as watermelons and still tasted a bit better than all the others. (OK, big as grapes at least. . .)

Comments Update 2024
Chandlers: This variety might seem a bit finicky during the first 2 or 3 years. And, as mentioned several times before, they need a good supply of water, particularly in the Spring if the winter rains taper off. But the Chandler really comes into its own by the fourth year onward.They produce lots of blueberries, many of which are quite large. All are very tasty. Further, they produce berries throughout the whole season - from June through September.


Cut some big clumps of blueberries for freezing or making your neighbors really happy.


If they are really profuse, cut off some clusters with unripened blueberries - to direct the plants energy to the other clusters - hopefully to encourage bigger berries.

clumps clumps

During the other seasons

Curious what blueberries look like in the non-growing season? Here's some pix of what they look like on the Oregon coast. We are above the 45th parallel, right up there with Montana, Maine, and the like. But the winters are moderated by the Pacific Ocean and usually stay above freezing, with occasional drops to 28 F or so.

Winter
Blueberry plants are deciduous. Their leaves turn purple in the fall (picture above, after the paragraph "purple leaves").
 By January, the plants are just stalks with next season's buds showing.
 Winter (December, January, February) is the time to prune your blueberries. See below these three images.

in January

Early Spring
In March, the first green emerges from each bud.

in March

Late Spring
By April, the plants already have their leaves. Also they are covered with the white flowers which will become blueberries!

in April

Pruning

I'm usually not too fond of pruning plants, preferring to let them grow naturally. But pruning is a necessity for blueberries. If blueberries remain unpruned for several years, the blueberry production is drastically reduced, and - in the case of Chandlers at least - may in fact stop altogether!
 Blueberry plants put out new shoots each summer. So we want to encourage this by removing stalks that have produced blueberries for several seasons. So how do you tell which is which, especially in the winter when all the leaves are gone?

The new shoots are smooth and reddish. They will also have lots of small buds which grow larger as Spring approaches.

The older stalks have become "woody", and look like plain ol' tree branches. The goal is to remove some but not all of these stalks (unless some new shoots have emerged along the length of the stalk). I show this in the images below, using "Before" and "After" pictures.

before

So we can see that the new growth is red (maybe not as red as these pictures show - I have enhanced them for better contrast.) The older growth looks like tree branches. Some agricultural extension articles use the term "twiggy" to describe them.
 We want to remove some of these branch-like stalks.


As seen here, two stalks on the left have been removed. Apparently it is not desireable to remove all of the older stalks, just one or two main ones. Two smaller stalks on the lower right have been removed. We are also cleaning up some of the smaller growth (not new shoots!) as well.

after
before

Here's another bush with some older stalks.


A couple of the older stalks have been removed as seen here.

after
before

Here's another bush. This one has quite a bit of smaller growth near the bottom that can be removed.


We have removed one of the older "woody" branches, but retained two others because new shoot have emerged from them.
 This picture is taken from a different angle! Note that the yellow plastic label which was toward the back of the "Before" image is now facing right. The branch on the right in the "Before" image (with the new red shoot emerging) is on the left side of the "After" image.

after
before

Another "Before", with two larger woody stalks.


Here it is after pruning. Note again that the goal is not to remove ALL of the woody growth branches.

after
before

Another example


We removed a large woody branch as well as a smaller one, but retained a large woody branch. Also, the short woody branch on the back side was left because it actually has two new red shoots emerging from it.

after

Here's some pictures of the results of pruning (taken during the following summer).
There are a couple of ways that new shoots may appear in the Spring after pruning:

Several new shoots will emerge from the base of the plant in the spring. There can actually be quite a few of these!

New shoots may emerge from the remaining woody branches particularly if you have only cut off part of one.

pruning

This picture shows two new green shoots emerging from a partially cut woody branch. One of the new shoots is near the bottom of the woody branch, and another emerges on the left side of the branch toward the middle of the picture.


And here is a large green stalk and a smaller one growing out of a pruned branch.

pruning
pruning

Here's three or four young shoots emerging from a cut branch, along with some new shoots coming out of the base of the bush.


And this Bluecrop bush is sporting 7 or 8 new green shoots, which produced boatloads of berries during the summer immediately following the pruning. Note that these bushes are 4 years old, and are very prolific!

pruning

And Finally, a Reality Check

Well, should you decide to grow your own blueberry plants, you and your family will be treated to delightful blueberries the likes of which you won't find in stores. You will really like your blueberries!
 And so will the birds.
 And so will the rabbits and chipmunks.
 Sigh. Reality's a B, ain't it?
 So if you want to eat the blueberries yourself, you'll have to secure the perimeter! If your yard is fenced, and if the fence is continuous wood slats (not alternating), and if you put blocks or rocks on the ground to fill the space between the soil and the fence, you can keep out the rabbits (but not the chipmunks). For the chipmucks, you could try to staple a wire mesh along the bottom. I tried a mesh with approximately 1 inch openings - but the chipmunks could glide through the mesh as if it wasn't even there!
 Then there's the aerial squadron. Can't stop that with a fence.
 But what you can do is put a net over the blueberry plants.

Securing the Blueberry Perimeter.

So here is a good and relatively easy way to surround your blueberry patch.You construct a frame with PVC pipe and cover it with plastic mesh.
 NOTE: My blueberry article used to show an entirely different method of building an enclosure. It consisted of upright garden stakes, with twine stretched between them for support of the mesh. Also, I discussed a finer mesh material. All of this does not work! I have a picture of this system at the very bottom, explaining why it is deeply flawed.

MATERIALS NEEDED.


 Here is one brand of mesh, with 3/4 inch squares. It is much better than the former 1/2 inch square material that I used in the past.
 You will also need some garden twine.

You'll need some or all of these PVC connecters Note that this is 1/2 inch PVC pipe:

coupler

right angle

Tee

three, four, and five way.

net material pvc


 You will need at least 10 sections of 10 foot 1/2 inch PVC pipe. It's the "schedule 40" thickness.
 Unless you plan to leave the frame up year round, you will need some short pieces to drive into the ground, and allow the uprights to be inserted into them.
 At the store, I spent quite a bit of time trying to find a slightly larger diameter piece to drive into the ground, so that I could slide the 1/2 inch diameter upright pipe into it. Here is one item that I was about to purchase. It's a watering stake, shown in front of 10 piece sets of 10 ft PVC pipe. I was planning to remove the cap from the stake and slide the pvc pipe into it.But these watering stakes were 10 bucks each!


 Finally a solution ocurred, once I released my assumption that the ground piece had to be bigger diameter!
 I would simply cut some smaller pieces of 1/2 inch pipe and use couplers to attach the uprights!

pvc pvc




 Here is a sample of using a short piece to drive into the ground.
 I cut these pieces 16 inches. This one is in the middle of the raised bed, so about 14 inches is buried in the soil, I then add the coupler, and the 5 foot upright pipe.


TOOLS NEEDED
 I used a pipe cutter to cut the PVC pipe. The gripping pliers are handy because it's hard to grip the pipe while cutting. After cutting, use sandpaper to smooth out the cut edge. The cutting process leaves the end slightly expanded out. Sanding the edge is necessary so the pipes will fit into the couplings. Just wrap the pipe with the sandpaper and rotate the sandpaper around the pipe.
 Don't have a pipe cutter? You can use a hacksaw instead. It will still be necessary to sand the rough edges.
 A rubber mallet would be great for driving the short pieces into the ground. Otherwise you can use a hammer, but place an old piece of wood on top of the pvc pipe, so that you won't spread the end of the pvc out by hitting it directly with the hammer.

pvc pvc

How to do it

Cut the upright pieces 5 feet. That way, you can get two per 10 ft pipe

Cut the smaller pieces (to be driven into the ground) 16 inches long. This provides a little extra height.

Decide on locations to place the smaller pieces. I spaced them 5 feet apart. This allows you to also get two horizontal sections from one 10 ft pipe. Drive them partly into the ground - it helps to do this with wet ground for easier working. Before driving further, use a level to ensure they are upright and plumb. Or just eyeball them by comparing them to a nearby house or fence wall. Then drive them deeper. If the area is level, you can drive them all about 10 inches deep. If the ground is irregular, drive them such that the tops are at the same height. Mine varied from 10 inches to 14 inches. The 14 inch depth was inside the actual raised blueberry bed itself (the image just above).

If your blueberry patch is larger - say 8 ft by 8 ft - put a couple of "ground supports" in the middle of the garden. This way, you can have some uprights there, to support the netting.

If necessary, some of the horizontal sections can certainly be shorter or longer than 5 feet.

Now cut some 5 foot vertical sections to be used as the uprights. Use the couplers to attach them to the ground pieces. Push the uprights into the couplers, but not too firmly - you want to be able to remove them at the end of the summer. Sand the ends again if they won't fit into the couplers.

Now add the horizontal sections.

You will probably use the 3 way connector in the corners, and the 4 or 5 way connecter in the middle.


Need to make a special junction and/or don't have the correct coupler? You can stack couplers, using a short piece of pipe. This is particularly useful if you want to:
 Go off in a different direction, or
 raise a horizontal section above the rest.


Here's a closeup of such a situation. The lower connector forms a right angle corner. It would normally be the 3 way type. But by using a 4 way connector, I can go up with a short piece and use an "elbow" to go off to an angle to the right.
 NOTE: actually I did not use a short piece of pipe and an elbow. There is also available an elbow that has a "male" connector and a "female" connector. So the male end fit right into the top hole of the 4 way connector.
 This assembly is marked by the left red arrow in the big image below

pvc pvc


Here is another use of two connectors. I am using two "Tees" to allow the top pipe to be at a non-ninety degree angle to the bottom pipe.
 This assembly is marked by the right red arrow in the big image below


If one of your upright poles needs to be above a concrete pad or porch, you can do this. Buy a "1/2 inch galvanized floor flange", and an adapter. One end of the adapter is threaded to fit the floor flange. The other end slips over the PVC pipe.
 Note that the assembly just rests on the concrete.
 See the big image below this one for further detail. For better stability, I connected a horizontal pipe to the connector at the top of the upright that has the floor flange, and connected the other end of the horizontal piece to the pipe end marked with the white arrow in the image. This helped stabilize the assembly.

pvc pvc


 Here is the (almost complete) frame, prior to adding the mesh material.
 As noted above, there is an additional horizontal pipe (not shown) that will be connected to the pipe marked by the white arrow.
 The two red arrows point to the multiple connector junctions discussed in the above images.

pvc

Adding the mesh

Place the roll in one corner. This product is supplied doubled up. So it's actually 84 inches wide, but it is folded in half, to a 42 inch width. Place the roll such that the fold is toward the corner. Thus the fold is on the left side of the roll in this picture.
 Unroll the mesh and pull it up and over the frame, all the way to the other side and down to the ground. Now open up the folded mesh and let the opened up half drape over the back side. The unfolded mesh now drapes over three sides.

Make sure the mesh on all three sides sticks out about 10 - 12 inches. That is, don't cut the edges flush to the soil line. You need some of the mesh to lie flat so you can put some rocks on it to keep out the chipmucks/squirrels!

pvc pvc


Here's a shot of the other side. The mesh covers the backside (next to the fence in my case) completely, and it comes down to the ground (with the extra 10 - 12 inches) on the two adjacent sides.


When you bring the mesh down on two adjacent sides, there will be some excess, just like there would be on a sheet when you make the bed. Don't cut off this excess! (See the next picture).

pvc pvc


Just fold the excess over and secure it with a couple short pieces of twine. Why not cut off the excess?

It's about $75 bucks a roll, for starters! Also, if you don't cut it, you can reuse it next year without trying to figure which section went where.

The cut would leave the corners open, you would have to tie them to the upright with many pieces of twine to keep the chipmucks or the birds out!.


Here is the other side folded over. (This is the first side where the roll was shown laying on the ground.)

pvc pvc


Here's a picture of the top after unrolling the second section of mesh. Overlap the two sections 12 - 15 inches.


"Sew" the overlapping sections together with some twine. Why? Because the birds are perfectly capable of perching on the top and crawling between the overlapped part. Just trust me on this! I have woken up many times in the past to discover a bird trapped in my blueberry patch!

pvc pvc


"Sew" the overlapping sections on the sides together. HINT: An easy to do this is not to use twine, but to simply thread a thin garden bamboo stick through the overlapping section.


This is the "door". The left upright is the one which had the double couplers on the top (the one with the elbow with a male and female end).
 The right upright is the one that rests on the concrete. I have added a garden stake with the mesh wrapped around it (see the next picture). Both of these uprights are highlighted by the two red arrows in the big image above.

pvc pvc


The mesh is wrapped around the garden stake and secured with twine. The stake just rests against the PVC upright. It's "locked" with a piece of 1/4 inch rope on the top.


Here's a picture with the door "open". The thin piece that you see is a garden bamboo stick threaded through some mesh netting. I throw this piece and its mesh over the top of the enclosure after I close the door. This keeps the birds out.

pvc pvc


And here is the completed enclosure.
Birdproof.
Rabbit and squirrel proof.
Chipmunk "resistant". One did manage to slip underneath somewhere on the bottom.
But I placed a rock on the mesh where I think the entry point was. Haven't seen any inside since. . .

 At the end of the season I will roll up the mesh for re-use. I will pull all the PVC pipe uprights out of the ground pieces, and cap the ground pieces. I will probably place a rock by any ground pieces that are in an area where people might be walking, so they won't stumble over them.

pvc

A final note:.
In the past, I had been using just gardens stakes and a finer mesh for several years. It does NOT work!!
 Here's a picture taken in 2019, when my blueberry bushes were much smaller.

It's too hard to pull the mesh over the stakes. (I just strung twine between the stakes in an attempt to support the mesh)

Fine mesh is indescribably difficult to use! It catches in any shirt buttons that you happen to be wearing. It catches on the blueberry plants. It's hard to re-use.

keeps the birds out

Copyright © 2025 J.A.