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I planted about a dozen blueberry bushes 3 years ago. They are not thriving and I would like to transfer them to a new area.

When digging them up, how should I do this to avoid too much damage?

Mr. Boy
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1 Answers1

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Dig them up carefully so as not to disturb the rootball. Dig a nice big planting hole and replant to the original depth. Water until established. They need acidic soil. To quote the RHS here:

Blueberries need a sheltered site in sun or part shade, with well-drained but moisture-retentive, acidic soil (pH 4.5–5.5), that does not dry out in the summer or become waterlogged in the winter. If you can grow azaleas, rhododendrons and camellias in your garden, blueberries should be successful too.

Peter4075
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    Any idea on size of rootball... is the idea I get essentially an undisturbed 'sphere' pf soil containing all the roots? – Mr. Boy Mar 11 '22 at 15:04
  • To get the acid pH required by blueberries , your soil will need to be nearly all sand and organic material. Any clay or limestone and they have no chance of good growth. – blacksmith37 Mar 11 '22 at 15:19
  • @Mr.Boy - as large a rootball as you can manage, but as long as you water well until the plants are established they should be OK. Don't forget many shrubs and trees can be planted with bare roots if done in the dormant season. – Peter4075 Mar 11 '22 at 18:30
  • @blacksmith37 - your soil recommendation doesn't apply in all cases - I can grow blueberries, lingonberries, rhododendrons, and azaleas on my loam soil, with no soil amendments. The key to my soil, I think, is that an oak forest had occupied the land for probably millennia before my house was built and the land was farmed for only a decade or two after the forest was cleared. Soil type does not indicate acidity (although underlying chalk does indicate basic soil, of course). – Jurp Mar 11 '22 at 22:08
  • @Mr.Boy - if you're concerned that you may cut off roots, a rule of thumb is that the feeder roots of woody plants extend 50% past the end of the canopy. So - if your bushes are three feet wide, the OPTIMAL root ball would be 4.5 ft. I would, however, in your case, probably look for a root ball roughly the width of the bush, if possible. Note that it WILL be heavy at that width. One way to move it is to get the ball onto a tarp and then drag it to its new position. As noted above, don't worry if soil gets knocked off (knock some off yourself if it's too heavy). Dig when dry, not wet. – Jurp Mar 11 '22 at 22:11