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Transplanting established blueberries bushes

Eric Hanson

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posted 6 years ago

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Hello everyone,

Several years ago I started a fruit patch that included a couple of rows of blueberries bushes. In retrospect, I planted them in a terrible place. The ground is low, difficult to mow, and worst of all, trees (locusts and other trees) adjacent to the blueberries have grown like rockets and spread faster than I can trim, thus heavily shading the blueberries.

I am thinking about moving my blueberries to a better location and I am wondering if I can just dig up the bushes or if that kind of root damage will kill the bushes outright. I alternately could start from scratch, with little bushes, but I would much prefer to save & revive my existing ones. My soil is slightly acidic dense clay (ph~6.5) and I live in zone 6b.

I realize that this may not be possible, but if anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears.

Thanks in advance,

Eric

Some places need to be wild

Barbara Martin

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Location: Southside of Virginia

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posted 6 years ago

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If you do try to move them, it is a good idea to trim the bush back some before lifting it in order to help offset root loss. Since blueberries have rather shallow root systems, consider a thorough ground soaking before digging and dig far enough out and under to preserve as much root mass as possible. Also consider moving them when they are dormant to reduce stress. Perhaps a strategy to mitigate berry bush losses should you move them, is to go ahead and propgate the trimmings from the parent bushes. Hope it works!

Joylynn Hardesty

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posted 6 years ago

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When I have transplanted stuff, they have done oh so much better while the plant was dormant. During summer, here, they are likely to be severely stunted for a season or two, or even die.

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Timothy Norton

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posted 5 months ago

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Did you ever try to transplant the blueberries? I have some plants I am interested in moving but I have a similar question on the best way of going about it.

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Megan Palmer

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posted 5 months ago

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I have found that blueberries grow well from cuttings so might be a good idea to take some cuttings as a back up plan.

Tanya White

Posts: 101

Location: Western NC, zone 6B/7A

posted 5 months ago

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We transplanted ours last year in the spring. The blueberries were in a weird spot where the pH was quite high although the rest of our property has low pH (the spot was limed or anything, but we have an entire ridge where pH is higher, over 7, compared to slightly below 5 in unamended woodsy areas). The highbush blueberries were perhaps 5 years old, no older than 8. They weren't thriving (although not looking horrible). Also, in previous spot they were close to the birdfeeder so the little monsters beat us to the berries.

We moved the bushes to an area with lower pH. Their roots were not super deep. The bushes also made some sprouts/babies that we transplanted separately. Everything survived and is thriving. We got a few berries last summer (after transplant), but we clipped quite a few branches to allow them to put energy into settling in.

Eric Hanson

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posted 5 months ago

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Timothy, everyone,

Thanks for reviewing this old thread! Unfortunately, my neglected blueberry bushes stayed neglected. Since 2019, several factors took me away from some of those projects. I got much, much busier at school, COVID caused other priorities, and I had been in graduate school for the last two years, ending in August 2024. So unfortunately I have not really touched those blueberries.

However, I have a major trimming and cleanup project ahead of me that I might be able to start doing this summer with the help of my neighbor. On that list is not so much to transplant the blueberries but to trim back the shading canopy that grew up around them.

At this point, I don’t know about transplanting anymore as the bushes themselves have gotten pretty big, but the shading means that they don’t get full foliage nor do they fruit out the way they could. Perhaps the trimming will get more light to the area and change that.

If I do tackle this job, I will make it a priority to report back and let everyone know how things are going. Also, I think that this trimming project just got bumped to the top of the priority list.

Again, thanks for reviving this thread!

Eric

Some places need to be wild

Dave Wangbichler

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posted 5 months ago

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Ha. I see you started this 5 years ago ...when I was going to move my blueberries. Well I really need to move them now as they sit in saturated soil for a month or so. I am waiting for the frost to subside and I will mine mine this year.
They fruit but hardly grow. 20 bushes of different varieties....Now if the snow would stop so I can prep them while dormant.

L Anderson

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Location: Willamette Valley, OR

posted 5 months ago

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I was moving. I had 2 blueberries (and 2 thornless raspberries) that I had put in the ground 2 years prior. The blueberries were initially purchased in 5 gallon pots (the raspberries, 1 gallon).

In only two years they were bearing more than I expected, and the fruit was delicious. So when I found I was able to move (again) to a more suitable place, I decided I would try bringing them along. One complication was that I didn’t know exactly when the move would happen, but I did know that I didn’t want to be digging them up in the middle of summer. .

So I cadged some really big pots from a friend, and dug up the plants in very early spring, before they showed signs of life. I dug them so that I could move them with as much of the soil they were growing in as possible, since I didn’t know how long they would be sitting in those pots. As it turned out, they were in them for a couple of months. They had all started putting out leaves and flowers by the time moving day arrived in the middle of May. There were even berries beginning to appear on the blueberries.

Once moved I got them into the ground pretty much immediately (before even all my belongings were moved). I assumed I would lose the berries for that season, but I didn’t! Nice surprise. They didn’t set additional berries, so my crop was tiny, but I sure enjoyed them. The plants stayed healthy and grew through the season. I am very glad I brought so much soil from their previous home, because the soil here is solid clay (well, with a fair smattering of river rock) that the developers piled here in 1992 and had never been improved. I also planted a comfrey slip next to each from a big plant that I also dug up and moved - I figured they could use any help they could get.

Anyway, as we approach the end of our first year post-move, they are all budding out beautifully. . I’m pretty amazed at how successful it was. So my advice? Go for it.

Oh - a note in the 2 raspberries: I ran out of steam, and only one got planted. The other stayed in its moving pot until a month or so ago. I’d had a lot to get into the ground (I even moved a small plum tree), and digging into hard, compacted clay, and having to make holes extra big so I could include amendments purported to help break up clay without creating cement, was quite a project for an old bat - especially since I was simultaneously moving, managing repairs and upgrades, etc. But guess what? Both lived.. They didn’t give me berries last year, but the are already leafing out this year - and the one that lived in the pot for almost a year is doing just as well as the one that got planted quickly.

So again, I totally think it’s worth going for it. You might lose production for a season (but maybe not, if you can get it done before the new growth starts, and it’s not 90 degrees in the shade when you are transplanting). But regardless, you still end up with a more mature plant than if you bought replacement, which also wouldn’t give much the first season. And, you already know you like the berries they give. And of course, it certainly saves $$$!

Mike Barkley

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posted 5 months ago

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https://permies.com/t/169305/a/160206/h-bee-blueberries.jpg

The tree directly behind the truck with another visible to the left side are blueberry trees. Not just blueberry trees but 20 foot tall blueberry trees. There are 20 or 30 more next to the truck but not visible in this poor picture. They were planted right after WW2 by a veteran who lived deep in that forest. He was a hermit there until he died many years later. He determined that blueberries would grow well in that area so he ordered a few & planted those 20-30 original plants. There were no other blueberries grown in that state at the time. They did so well he started propagating them from cuttings & from the suckers that form. Spreading them to farmers & ranchers all across that area. Suckers seem to be the most reliable method. One of the neighbors ultimately developed 300 acres of them & created a commercial blueberry business. We also had 3 more orchards of about fifty 8 foot tall bushes each. The point is suckers seem to work better than moving an entire bush or tree. I sure miss those huge blueberry trees. I think a road trip is in order soon. Almost harvest time!!!

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L Anderson

pollinator

Posts: 115

Location: Willamette Valley, OR

posted 5 months ago

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Mike Barkley wrote:https://permies.com/t/169305/a/160206/h-bee-blueberries.jpg

The tree directly behind the truck with another visible to the left side are blueberry trees. Not just blueberry trees but 20 foot tall blueberry trees. There are 20 or 30 more next to the truck but not visible in this poor picture. They were planted right after WW2 by a veteran who lived deep in that forest. He was a hermit there until he died many years later. He determined that blueberries would grow well in that area so he ordered a few & planted those 20-30 original plants. There were no other blueberries grown in that state at the time. They did so well he started propagating them from cuttings & from the suckers that form. Spreading them to farmers & ranchers all across that area. Suckers seem to be the most reliable method. One of the neighbors ultimately developed 300 acres of them & created a commercial blueberry business. We also had 3 more orchards of about fifty 8 foot tall bushes each. The point is suckers seem to work better than moving an entire bush or tree. I sure miss those huge blueberry trees. I think a road trip is in order soon. Almost harvest time!!!

WOW!

Billy Snow

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posted 5 months ago

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I'm about to move some blueberry bushes myself in about 3 weeks. I enjoyed reading these posts to help prepare. My soil just doesnt stay acidic enough. I am going to move them into 1/2 wine barrels and see how that goes.

Jamie Chevalier

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posted 5 months ago

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I've had some experience transplanting blueberries and their cousins, rhododendrons. There are a few key concepts that set you up for success.

As with most plants, transplanting during dormancy is best. (Bear in mind that for broadleaf evergreens, the dormant season may be opposite than for deciduous plants.) Suckers are almost always easier to transplant, both because there is a smaller top growth for the roots to support and because young "teenage" plants are growing faster and have more vigor than more sedate mature plants.

As with most plants, to reduce stress and shock for the plant, you need to do two things: maintain the plant's hydration and maintain top/root balance so that hydraulic lift can get sap to the whole plant. Maintain hydration and reduce stress by transplanting at a cool, low-light, windless time. You may also want to wrap the plant in damp cloth and/or dip the roots in muddy water before replanting. Do NOT water heavily before transplanting--the extra-heavy wet soil will tear away small roots that might have remained intact if they were supporting a lighter root ball.
Maintain top/bottom balance by serious pruning. Most berry bushes will have several canes (trunks) sprouting from the crown. If yours does, then cut 1/3 to 1/2 of them to the ground. If there is just one trunk, then cut out 1/3 of the branches. Once a particular trunk or branch is more than about 3 years old, there is no point trimming it: either cut it to the ground or leave it alone, as old wood will not sprout twigs and fruiting spurs easily. The vitality of the plant is in the crown, not the branches. Cutting a branch to the ground stimulates the crown to make new ones. It is a coppicing process.

Tips unique to the Heath Family (rhodies, blueberries, azaleas, cranberries, lingonberries, arbutus, etc)
These plants put down a few long anchor roots and then many small hairlike roots very near the surface. This can make them easy to transplant IF you know what's important. What is important in this case is breadth, not depth. Use a sharp tool to cut around in a wide circle well outside the dripline of the plant. Have a bedsheet on hand to slide underneath the bush. Go straight down about 6 inches, then gently start digging underneath the plant and prying up the root mat. You should be able to recognize the roots of your berry bush fairly soon by where they are coming from, color, number of roots, etc. Keep gently lifting and sliding the sheet in to support the roots and soil as you cut them free. If the root mat is dense (rhododendrons), you can roll it up like a carpet, but blueberries seldom are that much of a mat, and require more support for the root mat. When it is free of the ground, slide the sheet completely under it and carry it in state to it's new home. Be sure that the soil surface is neither buried nor sitting high in it's new home--the roots need to be close to the surface but the cut edges of the mat should not be exposed. Water well. A light sprinkle of compost is usually a help. If the weather is warm or windy, give your plant protection with shadecloth, a sheet, or a cardboard shelter.

Using this method, I have transplanted rhododendrons in full bloom with no problem, but that was in a very cool climate with a lot of cloud cover.

Vickey McDonald

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Location: Wasilla, United States

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posted 5 months ago

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My husband transplanted some berry bushes "for me" a few years back, while I was at work. He decided to do some work on the hill they were planted on. Three blueberry bushes, two haskaps, two black currents. and a white raspberries, which turns out is just another name for a golden raspberry.

He moved them with the bucket on a backhoe. And basically just dumped them out on a small ridge along the side of our property. A rough, uneven area I'm barely even able to climb up there. Two of the Blueberries disappeared in the move, the raspberry died. One of my rhubarb did not survive the move either.

I will be getting more blueberries but not until I have a permanent garden space for them.

I don't suggest using a backhoe to transplant.

Tommy Bolin

Posts: 106

Location: 55 deg. N. Central B.C. Zone 3a S. Nevada. Hot and dry zone

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Sounds like our blueberries are much different than the ones described here.
Ours grow very low to the ground, open shade on the fireguard or clearcut/burns, slightly boggy areas, and north faces, mixed with sphagnum moss and usually kinnickinnic. Grows with spruce but not poplar, so acidic is my guess. Our soil is is glacial rocky/very shallow, so a bit sandy, wet humus. Plants remind me of the U.P. Michigan ones I remember from K.I. Sawyer AFB, but lower yet.
Very small, but incredibly tasty, they are difficult to harvest. Gotta be right down on the ground, and always in competition with the bears to see who gets them first. Lil'B picks blueberries, while I fell and limb firewood. We make a family outing of it, bringing the dogs. She has those nimble little fingers, I'm not nearly as fast. We have a couple grandkids nearing berry picking age, so help is on the horizon. Harvest is small, but she mixes them with much more prolific saskatoons for her canning.
We have moved blueberries to much nearer the house to appropriate locations, trying to increase our local yield, bringing soil, moss along. Seems to be working.
Lil'B was cleaning her blueberry harvest two years ago, tossed the culls out onto a shaded bit of lawn at the north cabins. Happily, they transplanted themselves.

Vickey McDonald

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Location: Wasilla, United States

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posted 5 months ago

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Your berries and growing zone as well as acidic soil sounds very much like mine here in south central Alaska. A friend has a large amount of wild blueberries on his property. I hope to go get a bunch and transplant them this year.

Tommy Bolin wrote:Sounds like our blueberries are much different than the ones described here.
Ours grow very low to the ground, open shade on the fireguard or clearcut/burns, slightly boggy areas, and north faces, mixed with sphagnum moss and usually kinnickinnic. Grows with spruce but not poplar, so acidic is my guess. Our soil is is glacial rocky/very shallow, so a bit sandy, wet humus. Plants remind me of the U.P. Michigan ones I remember from K.I. Sawyer AFB, but lower yet.
Very small, but incredibly tasty, they are difficult to harvest. Gotta be right down on the ground, and always in competition with the bears to see who gets them first. Lil'B picks blueberries, while I fell and limb firewood. We make a family outing of it, bringing the dogs. She has those nimble little fingers, I'm not nearly as fast. We have a couple grandkids nearing berry picking age, so help is on the horizon. Harvest is small, but she mixes them with much more prolific saskatoons for her canning.
We have moved blueberries to much nearer the house to appropriate locations, trying to increase our local yield, bringing soil, moss along. Seems to be working.
Lil'B was cleaning her blueberry harvest two years ago, tossed the culls out onto a shaded bit of lawn at the north cabins. Happily, they transplanted themselves.

Tommy Bolin

Posts: 106

Location: 55 deg. N. Central B.C. Zone 3a S. Nevada. Hot and dry zone

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Vickey McDonald wrote:Your berries and growing zone as well as acidic soil sounds very much like mine here in south central Alaska. A friend has a large amount of wild blueberries on his property. I hope to go get a bunch and transplant them this year.

That is a great plan.
If you have access to huckleberries and are willing to try, I'd like to know about it. We have just a little bit on a north spruce/birch slope and I am afraid to touch them. The Montana variety is known for being damn near impossible to propagate. Have to be the fungus/bacteria balance in the native dirt, my guess. Dunno about my BC ones.
Have you tried anything else? Raspberries around here transplant quite well, we co-locate them when we can with wild rose, that is how they seem to occur naturally. Would like to try spreading our little patch of red currants as well.
Also, Lil'B just set up several patches of mushrooms in the poplar woods near our house, yet to see what happens, may take a bit.
Good luck.

Vickey McDonald

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Location: Wasilla, United States

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We have red and golden raspberries, haskap berries, and black currents at this poin. I know red currents also grow here. I just started some elderberry cuttings I bought that are rated for my growing zone. Hoping they do well, though they are not good for fresh eating, they are medicinal, good for jams, jellies, juice and wine as well as several medicinal recipes. There are several types of wild berries here that I do not have on my property, but as I have room and time I hope to add many of them.

Have not tried the huckleberries, though it looks like a black huckleberry variety may be suited for the climate here.

Tommy Bolin wrote:

Vickey McDonald wrote:Your berries and growing zone as well as acidic soil sounds very much like mine here in south central Alaska. A friend has a large amount of wild blueberries on his property. I hope to go get a bunch and transplant them this year.

That is a great plan.
If you have access to huckleberries and are willing to try, I'd like to know about it. We have just a little bit on a north spruce/birch slope and I am afraid to touch them. The Montana variety is known for being damn near impossible to propagate. Have to be the fungus/bacteria balance in the native dirt, my guess. Dunno about my BC ones.
Have you tried anything else? Raspberries around here transplant quite well, we co-locate them when we can with wild rose, that is how they seem to occur naturally. Would like to try spreading our little patch of red currants as well.
Also, Lil'B just set up several patches of mushrooms in the poplar woods near our house, yet to see what happens, may take a bit.
Good luck.

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