Is this mandatory?

Nov 25, To keep them producing well, blueberry bushes need to be pruned every year. If your bushes have never been trimmed, be careful not to go overboard the first year: Remove no more than two or three of the oldest canes (more than seven years old). Remove any diseased or broken wood, plus crossing branches.

Pruning mature blueberry plants: remove weak, low-growing shoots (1) thin the crown of the plant by cutting out about 20 percent of the canes each year (2) head new, vigorous canes to about 4 to 6 inches below the top of the bush (3) 1 2} Excessive fruit set results in smaller, poorer-quality fruit and, potentially, reduced flower bud formation. Feb 03, Pruning an Older Blueberry Bush. The tidy-up comes first. Prune out all the dead, diseased wood.

Remove crossing stems and any crossing or particularly spindly-looking branches. Then remove any low branches that will touch the ground when fruit-laden. Blueberries have a shallow, spreading root system and suckers can sprout up some distance from.

Jul 03, The amount of wood cut out each year should be roughly 10 to 20% of the total wood cost for small tree removal. Removing some of the oldest canes each year allows more light into the bush so that fruit isn’t just produced on the outside of the canopy.

It also encourages well-established blueberry plants to put out new canes from the base. Pruning blueberry bushes and proper blueberry bush care can help yield not only a larger harvest but also larger, juicier berries.

Follow these easy step-by-step instructions on how to prune blueberries and properly amend the soil for quality growth. Mar 26, How to Prune Blueberry Bushes. To start pruning blueberry bushes, you’ll need a good pair of hand pruners and perhaps a small hand saw for larger limbs that need to be pruned down. The first step to pruning your blueberry bushes is to go through your bush and find small branches that intersect or cross over one another.

Prune blueberries in late winter and early spring, when plants are dormant. Avoid pruning after your harvest in summer and fall. Hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3.

Plants won't have much fruit the first 2 to 3 years. Harvest is bigger after 5 years. Blueberry plants grow slowly and reach full size in 8 to 10 years. Each winter, prune out old, weak and dead wood.