Wild Blueberry

We are lucky in having lots of wild blueberry brush on our property. For years I did not understand why, while I had lots of blueberry brush, there were never many berries. I then realized that in order for wild blueberries to set fruit they had to have a good deal of sunlight. Most of my blueberry brush was in fairly heavy shade. After I spent a afternoon one spring trimming out all the alder and winter berry brush around a nice patch of blueberries I saw results in the form of yummy wild blueberries later that year. Now I try to manage those areas that have lots of blueberry brush for berry production by keeping things trimmed out to let in more sunlight. As in every thing in life, you have to strike a balance. I do not want to create a mono-culture in my wood lot, I simply try to make conditions more favorable for species with more value to me. Nature has designed a natural progression of plants in every situation. Blueberries wait until something creates a opening in the canopy letting in sunlight, then they produce fruit to send their seed to a new area. Eventually the canopy grows in cutting off the sunlight and the blueberries wait. I just shorten the wait.