How to Mulch Blueberries

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By Sabah Karimi
eHow Contributing Writer

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Mulching is an important process for taking care of blueberry bushes. Mulch helps protect the soil and trap in necessary moisture so that the blueberry roots can grow and thrive with ease. Mulch helps to stabilize soil acids, so the blueberry plant has a much higher chance of survival. You can mulch blueberries with sawdust or black plastic, once or twice per year so that the soil is enriched with the nutrients and oils it needs.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Soil fertilizer
Sawdust
Small spade
Gardening gloves

Step 1

Put on your gardening gloves. Gardening gloves help protect delicate skin on your hands and lower arms during the mulching process.
Step 2

Start pulling visible weeds from the soil. You'll need to clear the weeds from the soil to make sure that they do not grow through the mulch and continue to attack your blueberry plants.
Step 3

Begin covering the garden bed with mulch. Start pouring the sawdust debris directly onto the soil in an even layer. Press down with the gardening spade or the palms of your hands.
Step 4

Move down the gardening bed to even out the layer of mulch. Continue putting mulch on the bed evenly to cover all of the exposed soil.
Step 5

Pat down the mulch for a second time. Push down and compress the mulch a second time to secure it in place. This can further protect the soil and blueberry plants for the season.

Tips & Warnings

Mulching is an effective way to keep weeds at bay.
A thick mulch can get rid of excess water by up to 50 percent.
Organic mulches can be used to add organic minerals and compounds to the soil.
Mulching blueberry plants is absolutely necessary for winter season.
Mulching is also considered a natural 'recycling' process because it replenishes the soil with minerals and compounds it needs to stay healthy.
The layer of mulch should range from 2 to 3 inches.
Use more mulch in a wet climate. If you're heading into rainy season or winter, use a thicker layer of mulch so that the it can absorb more moisture with ease.
Use only fine-textured mulches for small garden areas. You'll need larger pieces of sawdust for larger garden beds of blueberry bushes
Avoid using colored mulch or beauty bark