In article , wrote:

On 11 Feb 2005 05:18:56 -0800, wrote:

Another question, is it hard to grow these? I have heard some people
use them as landscape plants. How big do they get and are they hard to
take car of? Do they require alot of water?


To get a good yields there are several things to consider. The soil
must be acidic. I use cottonseed meal in the spring, but that was not
enough so I use two (double-diluted) applications of Miracid during
the growing season. They have a delicate shallow root system that
should be mulched with rotted sawdust. Do not use fresh sawdust. I
heap the sawdust on the ground, let it rot for 10 months, then use it.
The mulch will help retain moisture and reduce watering needs. You
will need some bird netting when the berries form. Plant at least
three varieties for better yields and longer season. Plant 6-8 feet
apart in part sunny locations. In my opinion, they are not exactly a
landscaping "beauty" plant, but the berries are wonderful.

As for being landscape beauties or not, I rather feel they are, or can be.
An older blueberry shrub can fairly often have interesting twig structure
for a winter presence, when the twigs turns bright yellow or red. The
leaves have glorious autumn colors. And the dangly flowers are stunning.
If compared to more shrubs that build up more substance because not
needing the pruning (evergreen rhodies or large deciduous azaleas for
instance) then I agree blueberry bushes have trouble competing in the
beauty department in all seasons. But some shrubs despite their popularity
are either bland (such as boxes) or go through long periods of mediocrity
or disarray (many of the spireas) or are mediocre most of the year yet way
overused anyway (photonia). In comparison to those, I think the seasonal
changes of blueberries make them much more interesting with a considerable
measure of beauty equal to or greater than some ornamental shrubs the
popularity of which I don't always understand (like I don't know why
anyone would plant boxes when very similar-looking shrubs can be had which
add impressive flowers &/or decorative berries to that tiny-leaf evergreen
look).

-paghat the ratgirl
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