blueberry patch

Also on my to-do list today is to water my blueberries. I added four new plants yesterday, all different. Three highbush (Blue Crop, Jersey, and Northland) and one lowbush (xxx). I mulched them in well and added HollyTone fertilizer. Since they're on a slope, I made a well at one side and a berm at the outer side of each plant to catch water. I have an drip irrigation kit spread out on my kitchen table now that I will install later this week so each plant gets watered well. The plants are in bud now. I'm not so concerned about a big crop of berries yet, I just want to get the plants established.

I started the patch in the fall of 2013 (1.5 yrs ago) with 8 highbush and 5 lowbush plants. The area is a bit on the shady side and is sloped. Id like to leave the wildflowers that are growing below them and keep a layer of chopped oak leaf mulch around them. I lost a couple bushes over the first winter and then last summer the remaining bushes did poorly, I think because I didn't tend them. They didn't produce many berries and I let the birds have what were there. This year I am planning to baby the plants; they are fertilized, sprayed (with dormant oil at bud break), mulched and hopefully I will keep up with watering. I have bird netting ready if they do produce berries this year.