North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>]

I have either Northblue or Northcountry (I forget) along with Northsky  
and St. Cloud, two of each in a row behind my house.  I wouldn't  
describe the Northcountry (or Northblue) as "spindly", but neither  
would I describe it as a "nice shape".  They are pretty when their  
foliage turns red in the fall, but I don't think they are ideal as  
ornamentals.  They grow as a loose bush.  I don't want to say they are  
unattractive, but they don't have the full symmetric shape of most  
plants that are customarily grown as ornamentals.  None of my  
blueberries does.

The three cultivars that I have are different enough in form and  
height that I can see the appeal of having two that match.  And my  
Northcountry (?) is about the size you want, and doesn't seem to want  
to get any higher.  Thirty inches of space to itself should be fine,  
especially if you are putting them in planters.  I did notice that my  
blueberries became much more fruitful the year I killed back the grass  
(by covering it with newspaper and mulch) a foot or two farther than I  
had when I first put in the blueberries.  But I hadn't given them much  
space at first.

I've read that many blueberries, including Northcountry, are partially  
self-fruitful.  (But will fruit more with cross pollination.)  I had  
wild lowbush blueberries before I planted anything, and planted these  
three cultivars plus a few others in other parts of the yard, so I  
have no personal experience with lonely blueberry plants.


Ginda Fisher
Eastern MA, zone 6


On Mar 18, 2009, at 9:56 PM, Randy Burd wrote:

> I would like to put two half-high blueberry bushes on the corner of  
> my deck.
> Each will have a space at most 30 inches in diameter. I don't want  
> to have
> it get much higher than 2 1/2 feet. I am considering getting two
> Northcountry.
> http://www.fallcreeknursery.com/Nursery/VarietyChart/Half-HighBlueberries.ht
> m
>
> My questions:
>
> 1. Is this variety adequate to be used as a landscape plant (in  
> addition to
> a sources of blueberries)? Will it have a nice shape or look  
> spindly? What
> other cultivar should I consider it this one isn't good?
>
> 2. I would like to get two plants of the same variety because the site
> requires bushes with symmetry for aesthetic reasons. Will this  
> markedly
> reduce production of berries making this just a bush not a bush with
> blueberries?
>
> Thanks.
>
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