Training and pruning are vital to ensure plant growth, facilitate agricultural practices, and promote productivity (fruits and new shoots) and fruit quality. These practices improve air circulation, light penetration, and the distribution of nutrients throughout the plant. Additionally, they help manage the plant's overall shape and size, making maintenance and harvesting more efficient. Pruning also helps to remove diseased or unproductive parts of the bush, reducing pest and disease risks.
How to Train and Prune Young Blueberry Plants
Prune young blueberries to promote vigorous vegetative growth (years 1-5)
Training begins right after planting, with the primary goal of establishing a strong, productive structure.
Immediately after planting, 30–60% of the wood can be removed, along with all flower buds, to promote vegetative growth and establishment. The plant should be pruned into a V shape to enhance light access and airflow.
During the second and third growing seasons, you may perform light pruning during the dormant season (end of winter or early spring). You may remove the smaller-weaker branches and thin the center of the canopy to maintain a balance between lateral and whip shoots. At this point, growers should select 3–4 strong canes to form the plant’s structure. The flower buds can be found at the tip of 1-year-old wood and are plump, rounded, and larger compared to the pointed vegetative buds (located closer to the base of the cane). You may also have to remove the flower buds during the second season and perform thinning during the next couple of years.
By the third year, growers can leave some buds on well-formed, vigorous canes, with the best fruits produced in medium vigor wood measuring 12–18 inches (30.5–45.7 cm) long. Throughout these early years, any damaged, infested, or infected wood should be pruned to maintain plant health.
How to Prune Mature Blueberry Plants
Renew old and infected canes, and thin the flower buds to promote fruit quality (mature plants, older than 5-6 years)
Most farmers aim to have 5-7 feet (1.5-2m) tall blueberry plants with 12-18 canes (of different ages and upright growth) with the ability to produce 3-5 new vigor canes annually. The pruning of mature blueberries focuses on removing old, weak, and infected canes, the lower branches to facilitate harvest, and thinning the center of the canopy for better light penetration and aeration. During this winter pruning, you can remove around 20% of the wood without harming the yield. It is important to remember that blueberries fruit on one-year-old wood, so it is vital not to remove all young canes during pruning.
Keep in mind that different types of blueberries require different pruning approaches. Highbush blueberries, both Northern and Southern varieties, respond well to the vase-like structure achieved through consistent annual pruning. Rabbiteye blueberries grow taller and more vigorously, requiring more attention to height control and sucker removal, but not so detailed thinning of fruiting shoots on each cane. Lowbush blueberries, commonly grown commercially, are managed by mowing or burning every few years to promote uniform new growth rather than traditional pruning.
Older or neglected bushes may require more intensive rejuvenation pruning. This can involve gradually removing up to one-third of the oldest canes over several years to encourage new growth. In extreme cases where bushes are severely overgrown or unproductive, cutting all canes back to ground level (coppicing) may be necessary. This technique resets the plant but delays fruiting for one to two years while the bush regrows. Gradual restoration is another option, allowing the grower to thin out old canes over several years to maintain some productivity during the rejuvenation process.
References
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/pruning-blueberries
https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/ec1304/html
https://www.uky.edu/Ag/Horticulture/masabni/PPT/blueberry.pdf
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/growing-blueberries-in-the-home-garden
https://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/pruningblueberries.html
Further reading
14 Interesting Facts about Blueberries
Uses, Nutritional value and Health Benefits of Blueberries
Blueberries vs. Bilberries- Are blueberries and bilberries the same thing?
Blueberry Plant Information-How to Identify Blueberry Plants
Blueberry Soil Conditions and Site Selection
How to Cultivate Blueberries Professionally
Blueberries Propagation and Pollination
Blueberry Water Needs and Irrigation Methods
Essential Blueberry Fertilization Guide: Nutrients, Schedules, and Best Practices
How to Prune Blueberries
