RE: [nafex] blueberries/wool/mulch

["Erdman, Jim" <erdmanj@uwstout.edu>]

Del, 
Do you do anything to keep rabbits etc from eating the bushes in the winter?
We never got berries until one winter when the  snow covered the bushes
completely all winter so the critters couldn't prune the bushes--they hadn't
eaten  much, apparently just the buds and new growth, so I hadn't realized
the extent of damage in previous years.  we have since gone to a cage of 1"
chicken wire around the plants (6' tall, 5' wide, 25' long, with an old
screen door for access) to keep animals out in winter and birds away in
summer.
I mulch with sawdust, wood shavings, pine needles, grass, hay, etc.
We have 7 plants and usually freeze 20 to 30 pints and eat lots fresh.

Jim Erdman, Menomonie, WI, cold edge of zone 4 in western Wis.

-----Original Message-----
From: del stubbs
To: nafex@yahoogroups.com
Sent: 11/16/01 7:45 AM
Subject: [nafex] blueberries/wool/mulch

Amy, I re-read your post about wool under blueberries.

My wife grew up picking wild blueberries, but we have very heavy soil
and 
not a blueberry in sight.  So, for a present,  I dug out a side-hill pit
18" 
deep x 4' x 8' and added 1/3 proportions of peat moss, sand, and rich
garden 
soil. Put in northern hardy blueberrries 3 years ago, keep 'em weeded,
and 
to date we've gotten a whoppin 3 berries!

Is there something magic about wool that I have'nt heard of?

We can get plenty of free cleaned reject wool from the local wollen
mill. Or 
is the lanolin, dirt, etc. of 'fresh ' wool important? I don't
understand 
the principle of planting a blueberry on a pile of wool unless i'ts just

keeping its dry feet or such, I would think the roots would be starved.

Secondly, wool was mentioned as a good mulch. My wife tried a bunch of
this 
stuff over our asparagas first time this winter, so we'll see. But my 
concern is that the the voles will have R20 housing for the winter as
well. 
any comment? Doesn't it matt down to nothing under snow? Thanks, Del

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