Should I cut the branches of my blueberry bush?

Paula Lambert
by Paula Lambert

My mature bluebird bush is split at the base of the plant due to all the rain we received last year. Two branches are splitting off. Should I just cut them off where they are torn or try to bind the base of the plant? Plant blooms in August. When would be the best time? Many thanks for any suggestions.

  4 answers
  • Kelli L. Milligan Kelli L. Milligan on Mar 16, 2019

    Call or visit your local nursery to get more information for your area and project. Take pictures so they can better help you. They will also have all the mending supplies you'll need.

  • Lynn Sorrell Lynn Sorrell on Mar 16, 2019

    is it a Honey berry? fruit is produced from new wood 1 year old---I say let it alone and see if new growth comes out of trunk/stalks below the break then see if broken pieces bud if not cut it off or if it has not broken dormancy you could cut it off it may take a few years to produce fruit,to come back from a hard pruning(cutting it off) you can also see if broken pieces produce any fruit before you cut them they may not even die I've seen huge trees in forest look like the are broken almost in two yet continue growing.just check it for budding. If it has not broken dormancy/began to bud you can chop it off.

  • Darlene Williman Darlene Williman on Mar 20, 2019

    I have a holly bush that was damaged in a storm the same way. The first couple of years it didn't seem to affect it but now it is dying out so I am going to cut out that damaged limb and leave the rest alone as it is healthy. I would try the same with your plant.

  • Jewellmartin Jewellmartin on Mar 20, 2019

    Hi, Paula. If this is a blueberry bush, and this is one of several, cut it down and replace now with a new plant. If you want to playBush Doctor, one thing has worked for me, against all odds. With a broken trunk and several broken limbs, I went to the basics. I tied the trunk with red ribbon, closely cutting the ends of the knot off. The from the break. I covered the trunk about one foot in each direction with old-fashioned Vaseline Petroleum Jelly. I wrapped that part of the trunk in pharmacy gauze. I only dig this one time, to a beautiful camellia bush. The trunk heals, with very little loss of leaves and no branches. Later, after several branches broke (after a snowstorm) I used wide ribbon but nothing else. I bound the ends together tightly, even laying the ends side by side if they were disconnected. Some of the rose branches heals, making a nub at the juncture. Some never healed. Some we clipped out to make room for more branches.

    Maybe I just had blind luck, but with about 75% recovery in one year, and good blooms by the second spring, I felt successful. I love spring!