Folks, from what I'm reading in the blueberry thread, it looks like they
would like soil that has had wood chips on it. I have a perfect place to
plant blueberry plants so as to protect them from birds. It is bordered
by chain link fence on two sides and the garage wall on another. Chicken
wire could easily be put over the chain link with another fence added on
the open end. The entire area could easily and effectively be covered by
netting to keep birds out or even a framework covered with chicken wire
which would keep squirrels out as well. It is on the north side of the
garage but is not otherwise shaded so gets early day sun but otherwise
no/little direct sun. Since blueberries grow among trees, I figured the
sun wouldn't be an issue as long as the soil and watering are right. I
have a load of wood chips next to this area now; the chips are oak and
alder. Would putting the chips on the area and planting the blueberries
there seem like a good idea?

I plan to plant some sort of berries there as it is a very out-of-the-way
place in the yard and hasn't been used for anything up until now. It
seems a perfect place for a berry patch, so would blueberries be a good
choice? I do so want some, and our climate is perfect for them.

Glenna

Folks, from what I'm reading in the blueberry thread, it looks like they
would like soil that has had wood chips on it.

Could be (subject to the usual disclaimers about how wood takes a long
time to break down and can tie up nutrients while it does so).

We figured the soil we built for our blueberries would be acidic
(because it is largely composed of composed leaves from the town), but
when we got a pH meter we found that didn't seem to be so (maybe
because of Maple leaves, which are not acidic? Or because of who
knows what). I don't usually pay close attention to pH but I have
been operating under the belief that for blueberries (and a few other
plants), I should. So we did acidify that soil.

I've been wanting to try pine needle mulch, but I'm not sure where to
buy some (planting a pine tree has occurred to me but would take a
while to produce much mulch :-)).

It is on the north side of the garage but is not otherwise shaded so
gets early day sun but otherwise no/little direct sun. Since
blueberries grow among trees, I figured the sun wouldn't be an issue
as long as the soil

The plants will grow there but won't give a lot of fruit. At least,
that's my understanding (as a rule of thumb, any plant where you want
many/big flowers or fruits will tend to need sun, and I'm pretty sure
I read it about blueberries in particular).

Blueberry bushes are attractive-looking, so you don't have much to
lose by trying. But if you want something more adapted to shade...the
list is fairly short for edibles. Lettuce, rhubarb.