The best things what to put around blueberry bushes want are acidic organic mulches. Pine bark, pine needles, aged sawdust, and oak leaves all work well in your patch. These mulches hold water, block weeds, and slowly drop your soil pH over time. Skip cypress mulch and hardwood chips since they shift soil chemistry the wrong way. A deep layer of the right mulch can cut your watering needs in half during summer.
I learned this trick during a brutal July heat wave in my own yard last year. I tried leaving two bushes with bare soil while I mulched the rest with pine bark. The bare bushes wilted by 2 p.m. each day and needed water every other morning. The mulched plants stayed perky and got by on a deep soak just once a week. I found the best mulch for blueberries in my patch cut my watering work in half.
The reason these mulches work is pure soil chemistry over many years of cover. Pine bark, oak leaves, and aged sawdust slowly release lignins and tannins as they break down. These plant acids keep your soil pH in the 4.0 to 5.5 range that blueberries crave. Hardwood and cypress mulch lack these acid compounds and can even push pH up. Stick with conifer or oak-based mulch for the long-term health of your patch.
A simple blueberry ground cover of clover or strawberry plants works under the mulch layer. These low plants fix nitrogen in the soil and shade the top roots from heat. White clover stays short and fixes free nitrogen for your bushes to use. Strawberries pull double duty by giving you a bonus fruit crop each June. Plant either one a foot back from the main bush stem to avoid root crowding.
WVU mulch data points to a deep layer for the best results in your patch. Keep your mulch 3 to 5 inches (7.6 to 12.7 cm) deep at all times. Spread it over a 3 to 5 foot (0.9 to 1.5 m) radius around each bush base. This wide cover helps the surface root system stay cool and damp through summer. A thin layer of mulch fails to hold water and weeds creep in within weeks.
Pine bark mulch blueberries love is widely sold at most garden stores in spring. Buy the coarse grade if you can find it since it lasts twice as long as fine bark. Refresh your bed with 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) each spring as the old mulch breaks down. Pull the fresh layer back 2 inches (5 cm) from the canes to prevent crown rot. This yearly blueberry bed dressing habit keeps your bushes healthy for decades to come.
Read the full article: Blueberry Bushes: Complete Growing Guide
