By Cathy Endress, Extension Master Gardener, serving Fulton, Mason, Peoria, and Tazewell counties
What started as a landscaping project, ended up becoming a blueberry patch! We installed solar panels several years ago in the back of our three-acre lot. Because we wanted to camouflage the steel structure, we decided to plant blueberry bushes to hide it. We could enjoy some blueberries and the leaves would turn red in the fall and eventually hide the solar panels. This was a WIN-WIN, right???
Our clay soil, which was already acidic (perfect for berries), was tilled in the fall and amended with sulfur in early spring with 19-19-19 fertilizer applied in late spring. We planted a row of 12 Blue Crop plants. The following year, an additional row of 12 Blue Ray plants was added. The rows are 40’ long and 10’ wide with 3’ between the plants and the rows. Landscaping fabric with seepage ability was added to the rows and around each plant roughly 5” from the base. We then added a thick layer of bark to help with weeds. We have an irrigation system in place, which was set to water for 25 minutes three times a week.
Our efforts paid off!! We were so excited to see so many blueberries that first year. Evidently, we were not the only ones excited. The birds loved them even more than we did, along with those pesky Japanese Beetles. Even though we provided them with a bountiful buffet that first year, we did get to enjoy quite a lot of berries and the red foliage in the fall.
Enough was enough! It was time to improvise so we could enjoy more of the berries! We needed to get serious about making this a garden bed instead of a landscaping project!
Denny constructed his own hoop structure. Yea! We get to see more steel!!! That structure is there permanently. The bushes themselves are getting so close to completely hiding the solar panels. When the berries begin to ripen, we add a dense white tarp-like fabric, and secure it all around the berries. Now we get to enjoy the full harvest. The berries usually last around 4 weeks. At that time, we are tired of picking. We then take down the tarp and share the remainder with the birds.
This is our fourth year. Some plants are 5’ tall. We have had to replace two bushes. We still add sulfer and triple 19 fertilizer in the spring each year plus the addition of new bark. During the peak, it takes both of us 1.5 hours to pick. We have 40+ quarts vacuum sealed in the freezer. This will last us until the next crop. I’ve slowly gotten used to seeing the structure out there, but I am contemplating a couple new trees!