Growing blueberries in our region is popular for good reason — the right plant varieties can grow well here and be very productive, providing plenty of delicious fruit year after year. And caring for younger blueberry bushes is relatively hands-off. When they get a bit older, pruning involves ensuring the bushes have multi-generational stems or canes.
That means when you prune blueberry bushes, make sure there is a mix of younger, middle-aged and older canes all on the same bush. This will make it more productive.
Finding the right variety of blueberry plants will go a long way toward getting the best harvest each year. Try the highbush blueberry variety and — if you're looking to save space, try out some half-high types that can also work well as foundation plants around your home, deck or patio.
Pruning blueberry canes for greater berry production
If your blueberry plants are younger than five years old, hold off on any pruning unless there are dead, diseased or broken branches. If so, remove those, but otherwise, there's not a lot of pruning to do on younger bushes.
For berry plants that are older, you'll want to prune them so the bush has multi-generational, young, middle-aged and older canes or stems all growing together.
And it's fairly easy to discern which is which: The younger canes have smooth yellow or red bark. Middle-aged ones still have some smooth bark, but are also beginning to turn gray, with some flaky bark. The older-aged canes are completely gray and flaky.
On these older bushes, take a look to determine which are flower buds and which are leaf buds. The flower buds will eventually be the fruit. This time of year, you should see large buds standing up and away from the stems. Leaf buds, on the other hand, will be small and thin and lie right next to the stem.
As the years progress, keep checking in on your berry bushes and prune them as needed. Some older plants will have twigs or branches that don't have many flower buds. Cut those back all the way down to the ground or down to a side shoot that's younger. Doing so stimulates new growth on the plant.
Groundhog mitigation in a home garden
Q: I re-dug my vegetable garden during the pandemic, so the fence goes underground about 2-3', with 4' above ground. This was specifically about groundhog mitigation. But this last summer, a hole appeared in the middle of my garden, and all the greens successively disappeared. - John, in Brattleboro
A: Changing the fencing a bit may mitigate any further groundhog invasions. When adding fencing, dig down about a foot, then angle the fencing away from the garden so it's an L-shape, and creates an apron that's about a foot or two long.
Next, cover that over with wood mulch or soil. Then, when woodchucks and groundhogs encounter the garden fence, they'll dig down, as usual, but instead of digging straight down and going underneath the fence, they'll hit the apron, get frustrated and move on.
And to make it even harder for them to get into your garden by climbing (because they can!), keep the top of the fencing unattached to the stakes. If they climb the fence and encounter loose top rungs, their weight will cause the fencing to bend back down and they'll drop outside the garden and away from your greens.
Can lettuce and garlic thrive near each other?
Q: Can I plant lettuce in between my garlic? Garlic is the one thing I plant in the same place in my garden every year because I was told that’s what it likes. So I don’t know if lettuce can be planted around it in spring and if It can do a succession planting there after I have harvested the garlic bulbs later in the summer. Do other veggies like that soil? - Mary, in South Burlington
A: Yes, you could, though it depends on how far apart you've placed your garlic bulbs or cloves in the soil. If the cloves are spaced close together, as the garlic grows in spring and early summer, it turns into a pretty dense green forest of garlic leaves!
In that environment, lettuce might thrive on the edges. Try spacing the garlic bulbs further apart and see if there is enough room for your lettuce plants to get enough space and sunlight and thrive.
Planning carrot and parsnip harvests
Q: I would like to plant parsnips later in the summer after harvesting carrots so that I can have parsnips in early November. I planted seeds in late July last year and nothing came up. Do parsnips seeds need to be sown in spring’s cool soil and cool air temps? Many thanks for your time, and the “Sprouted” weekly newsletter is fabulous! - Mary, in South Burlington
A: Parsnips are long-season vegetables and require sowing early in the growing season. Once planted, they grow all summer and into the fall, and by then, they have thick roots.
If you tried to plant them in late summer, the soil would probably be too warm and the parsnip roots won't have sufficient time to form, so it's best to stick with sowing them in spring.
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