Hey folks, just sharing a video I made (<4 minutes long) during my time transplanting blueberries yesterday. If you decide to watch, thanks!
May your blueberries thrive and prosper!
Thank you! And may I add
Sometimes it’s hard to know whether it’d be better, as a blueberry bush, to be relocated from harm’s way or to hold out hope that the path of destructive changes will be routed around the ground they grow in. Those making the changes to the soil probably won’t prioritize them, even if those who are stewards of their particular patch of soil do.
Transplanting can be a shock, and it’s hard to know what the situation is beneath the surface before it’s time to put down roots and see how they grow. It’s probably a good strategy for many of these plants, but it leaves uncertainty for each individual patch.
It’s definitely a lot to think about. For blueberries.
💕
This is an incredibly good point - blueberries often have a hard time rooting without a number of fundamental factors in place. Soil type, how a particular site drains or holds water, whether a host of other organisms are able to support the sometimes tenuous grasp they have to the space; even how acidic or basic a particular plot is will heavily influence how well they can do, let alone whether they’ll thrive there. Finding anywhere else that’s suitable is a monumental task, and daunting.
It’s my belief that everyone who can be a steward should be looking to blunt as much of the disturbance as they can for the blueberries that aren’t able to be uprooted, like a thick protective mulch to prevent the damage that can drive too deeply into the soil, while also keeping those new spaces they find in mind for the ones that can be safely relocated. Preferably in a way that inoculates the soil to provide a resurgence of them, and makes the whole area more conducive to the beauty and nourishment that they provide. It’s that mindset of interconnectedness, with blueberries, that allows for a path for understanding how best to approach the task at hand. It would be impossible to do without respecting the needs of the blueberries in question.
