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12 Blueberry Companion Vegetation for a Higher Harvest
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There’s something extraordinarily interesting about rising your individual produce. Whether or not it’s the heat and candy taste of a tomato simply picked off the vine or a tree that produces fruit for do-it-yourself pies, relishing the advantages of rising your individual meals is innately human. However as most gardeners know, the concept of rising a bounty for the dinner desk is typically simpler stated than finished. So it’s sensible to enter your visions of a yard harvest with a transparent head and many skilled steering—however you can too get a serving to hand from companion vegetation, close by vegetation that work to enrich one another.
If blueberries are a part of your backyard plans, you will wish to contemplate the appropriate blueberry companion vegetation that can assist beat back pests, retain soil moisture, and provide many different advantages. Forward, we spoke with specialists to weigh in with their suggestions for one of the best blueberry companion vegetation.
Thyme
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Thyme is splendidly aromatic—and it is that robust perfume that naturally repels pests which may feed on blueberries. Plant thyme close to your blueberries and take care to provide it fertilizer in each spring and fall for optimum development, says Carrie Spoonemore, co-founder of the Seed to Spoon app.
- Zone: 5 to 9
- Mature measurement: 6 to 12 ft excessive x 12 to 18 inches extensive
- Care necessities: Full solar; well-drained, sandy loam soil; weekly watering
Strawberries
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Different sorts of berries might be ultimate companions for blueberry vegetation. A terrific instance is strawberry vegetation due to their “non-compete” standing, says Spoonemore. The strawberry’s shallow root system doesn’t intrude on or impression blueberry bush development. Each blueberries and strawberries additionally share a love of acidic soil and full solar, and require frequent watering, making them ultimate companions.
- Zone: 4 to 9
- Mature measurement: 6 to 12 inches excessive x 12 to 24 inches extensive
- Care necessities: Full solar; well-drained, barely acidic soil; weekly watering with extra watering in sizzling and dry climate
Rhubarb
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A lover of acidic soil, rhubarb can thrive alongside blueberries, says Spoonemore. Simply be sure to don’t plant rhubarb too near blueberry bushes—each of those vegetation require enough room to develop.
- Zone: 3 to eight
- Mature measurement: 2 to three ft excessive x 3 to 4 ft extensive
- Care necessities: Full solar to half shade; wealthy, well-drained soil; preserve persistently moist soil
Spinach
A perfect blueberry plant match, spinach can develop in partial shade and, when grown beneath blueberry bushes, may also help gardeners maximize their planting area whereas minimizing blueberry water loss, says Spoonemore,
- Zone: 2 to 9
- Mature measurement: 6 to 12 inches excessive x 6 to 12 inches extensive
- Care necessities: Full solar to half shade; wealthy, well-drained soil; hold soil persistently moist
Basil
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Spoonemore recommends this culinary herb as a really perfect blueberry companion. For one factor, its bushy development may also help shade blueberries at their base, which helps the blueberry bush retain moisture. Basil can also be a lightweight feeder and will not compete with blueberries for important vitamins. Like thyme, its robust scent may repel many pests.
- Zone: 10 to 11
- Mature measurement: 1 to 2 ft tall x 1 to 2 ft extensive
- Care necessities: Full solar; well-drained soil and lightweight and constant watering
Azalea
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Azalea makes an ideal companion plant for blueberries, says Linda Vater, plant skilled for Southern Dwelling Plant Assortment. It options fairly white blossoms, deep inexperienced foliage, and chilly resistance. And like blueberries, azaleas thrive in acidic soil and loads of solar. Azalea blossoms are additionally interesting to the pollinators they entice, which can even profit your blueberries as effectively.
- Zone: 6 to 10
- Mature measurement: 4.5 ft excessive x 4 ft extensive
- Care necessities: Full to half solar; barely acidic soil; medium water; optimum flowering in daytime temperatures of 60 to 80 levels
Parsley
This fragrant herb pairs properly with blueberries in a kitchen backyard, says Spoonemore. Parsley does very effectively in tight areas and can assist repel bugs, a determined profit for any of their blueberry companions.
- Zone: 4 to 9
- Mature measurement: 12 to 24 inches tall x 12 to 24 inches extensive
- Care necessities: Full solar to half shade; well-drained soil; water recurrently and preserve fixed moisture degree
Sage
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A beautiful addition to your culinary backyard, sage can also be ripe for blueberry companionship, says Spoonemore. With gorgeous purple flowers, sage attracts pollinators to the backyard and provides pure pest management.
- Zone: 4 to eight
- Mature measurement: 1 to 2 ft excessive x 1 to 2 ft extensive
- Care necessities: Full solar; well-drained, sandy or loamy soil; weekly watering
Chives
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One other edible companion plant, Spoonemore recommends chives as a blueberry plant neighbor. Their enchantment is twofold—chives entice each pollinators and helpful bugs and hold away different pests like damaging Japanese beetles and aphids.
- Zone: 3 to 9
- Mature measurement: 12 to 18 inches excessive x 12 to 18 inches extensive
- Care necessities: Full solar; well-drained soil; reasonable and constant watering
Marigold
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Marigolds make nice companions for myriad vegetation as a result of their scent repels many pests, together with those who prey upon blueberries. Spoonemore recommends utilizing an all-purpose fertilizer when planting marigolds to maintain them wholesome and thriving.
- Zone: 2 to 11 (annuals)
- Mature measurement: 6 inches to 4 ft excessive x 6 to 24 inches extensive
- Care necessities: Full solar; well-drained soil; constant moisture
Elderberry
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Together with lingonberries and cranberries, elderberries favor acidic soil and loads of water, making them pure blueberry companions, says Spoonemore. They’re additionally not significantly susceptible to pests or illness and might entice helpful pollinators.
- Zone: 3 to 9
- Mature measurement: 5 to 12 ft excessive x 6 to 12 ft extensive
- Care necessities: Full solar to half shade; well-drained soil; common watering, hold moist
Different Blueberry Varieties
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Do not prohibit your self to just one cultivar of blueberries, says Vater. For instance, she recommends planting DownHome Harvest blueberry varieties collectively—like I Declare, Take the Cake, Howdy Darlin’, Heaven’s Sake, and Bless Your Coronary heart. Planting totally different blueberry varieties will yield extra and greater blueberries throughout.
- Zones: 7 to 9
- Mature measurement: 4 to five ft excessive x 3 to 4 ft extensive
- Care necessities: Full solar; well-drained, barely acidic soil and medium water
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