I decided this year to add some fruit trees to my container garden.  I bought two large 15-gallon pots and ordered two self-fertilizing dwarf trees — one cherry, one nectarine.

Unfortunately, the nectarine turned out to be out of stock, and by the time I found out, it was too late to order a replacement: their stock was too low of everything I found interesting.  So I decided to take a different route with my second tree-sized pot: I bought a blueberry bush.

Whenever you are using really big pots, it’s a good idea to add some extra drainage.  I started by putting around 2 inches of gravel in the bottom of the pot, then filling it the rest of the way with a mix of 1 part soil to 2 parts non-soil potting mix.

The berry plant I chose was a Berkley Highbush Blueberry, which may be a bit large to grow effectively in a pot.  It can grow to around 5-6 feet in both height and width.  It’s supposed to be a very ornamental plant.  The flowers, which are still showing, are pretty and white, and in the autumn, the foliage turns scarlet.

The roots of my blueberry bush were very compacted, so I spent some time gently loosening them before I planted.  They were smaller than I expected, and I’m sure I did more damage to them than I intended: the root ball was almost matted on the outside.  My research showed that blueberries do best with their roots shallowly buried, so I didn’t add much soil above the root ball.  In a few days, I’ll mulch the pot.

I’ll keep everyone updated on the status of the plant as the season goes on.  Hopefully, I’ll have a nice crop of berries to share with my kids!

4 Gardening Tips You Need To Know