blueberries & strawberries

Hello. Maybe you can help me out with this one? I have two big wooden boxes that I planted strawberries in last year - and did really well once I covered the boxes with a screen to keep the critters out! When the cold of winter set in, I mulched the strawberries with pine needles. I read somewhere that strawberries like acidic soil and the pine needles keep the soil acidic as they dissolved over winter months.

Based on the database I have discerned that my blueberries are probably Southern Highbush blueberries, which are noted to also be acidic. Will the blueberry bushes also enjoy being mulched with pine needles? Or is that only for strawberries?

[Will the blueberry bushes also enjoy being mulched with pine needles?]

They sure will! :-)

hmmm.... on a whim last summer I decided to make a little garden island around the blueberry bushes, and I dug out a circle and made a border by tying bamboo pieces together. Inside the island I made a ring around the blueberry bushes with tall bearded iris(s) that were growing wild in one area of the yard. Near as I can tell, they look like the Tall Bearded Iris "Anxious" in the database. Now that I have looked up the iris, it appears that they like a mildly alkaline soil.

Oops! Newbie error! The flowers are beautiful and they grow like weeds out there. The combo looks nice, but I should have done my homework first.

Do you think it will do any harm to the iris(s) if I mulch the island with the pine needles?

That's a tough question. I do know that pine needles eventually acidify the soil as they break down. The blueberry bushes will love that, but the irises won't. You've basically got two different kinds of plants growing together that require different pH's for optimum growth. That makes me curious about your blueberry bushes, since the irises are doing so well. How are they doing? Have you checked the pH of the soil they're growing in, and do they produce fruit? If they don't, you may have to lower the pH a bit, but once you do that, the irises won't like it. You may end up having to separate the two different kinds of plants.

Thanks Pete 2, I think you are right. I will probably have to move the iris(s) somewhere else. I transplanted about 6 blueberry starts there last summer that someone gave to me. I think they are the Southern Highbush blueberries because the parent plants I got them from are about 6 feet tall. They are now about knee high with pretty little purple leaves falling off them, but did not bear any fruit their fitst year. Last night I mulched the blueberry bushes with the pine needles, and stopped short of the iris plants.

All those plants seem to enjoy their sunny spot out there, good dirt, good drainage, bad combination!
Live and learn, eh?

Hi guys, I have a friend that planted his strawberries under his cedar and pine trees that he had clipped so that he could mow under them, and then he planted the strawberries. The get decent sun, will they do okay? Mikey