Soil preparation for Blueberries

[roitelet]

Thought I would try a couple of Blueberry bushes as I love the jam made from them.

I garden on clay with LOADS of large and small flint in it. I want to make a start on the preparation of the site as it takes a pick axe to get into the ground and is really heavy going.

I was planning to dig a fairly deep hole and remove most of the flint and then back fill with soil, peat and leafmould. I do know that they need a low ph so do peeps think this will work. I don't have a ph meter.

Looking forward to your thoughts on this.

[Capsid]

Yes, that should work or use ericaceous compost to fill the hole. Then you should use fertiliser/feed for acid loving plants thereafter.

[roitelet]

Thanks Capsid, I will press on. We have had some rain (yippppppppe) so with luck it should be more a case of winkling out the flint rather than a pick axe!!!!!

[chrisguk]

Becareful with clay soil; i decided to dig out some nice large hole for some apple trees. Issue was, that when it rained they turned into small ponds.

[roitelet]

I'll take that on board chrisguk, thanks, but even though the soil is clay it is not the heavy grey stuff but lighter sandy coloured. This used to be a brick making area. What with all the flint in it it drains rather too quickly and all the ground is on a slope, I could actually do with a 'boggy and sad' area

[FB.]

Blueberries won't mind heavy soil - they're semi-bog plants.
My blueberries have been living in a partially shaded gutter soakaway for the last few years, but the recent drought nearly killed them.
They're now planted in a pit a foot deep (they don't root deeply - they only have weak/shallow/fibrous roots). The pit is lined with plastic sacks in the bottom six inches, creating a water-trapping bowl that will prevent them drying out deeper down, and which should keep the soil pH acidic to their preference.

If heavy waterlogged soil is a problem for apple/pear/plum trees, consider creating a slight mound and planting the tree on the mound, which ensures that water drains away from the trunk.