The Highbush Blueberry and Its Management

This is one of the three books I recommend to people who are interested in growing bluberries. This book is a well written collection of the scientific knowledge of how blueberry plants grow and their culture. Blueberries need acid soils and the author walks the reader through site selection and preparation as well as culture, pruning and pest control. This book is an excellent reference for horticulturists and commerical growers. Numerous black and white pictures, graphs and tables deliver a lot of information and even though I have read it several times, I find myself refering to this book several times a year. Blueberries: For Growers, Gardners and Promoters is a more recent work with multiple authors and many color photos, but Dr. Gough's book is still an excellent resource with its own strengths and the two works complement each other.

Originally I purchased The Highbush Blueberry book because of my hubby's interest in blueberries. We are not blueberry farmers but have a variety of wild blueberries, including the highbush, growing on our property in P.E.I.,Canada. He was mostly interested in pruning and pest control which are included in the chapters. I found the book well organized and easy to understand. It contains a wealth of helpful and interesting material on blueberries but may be overwhelming for someone just starting out growing blueberries. By this, I mean the average person, such as myself, who has not done anything but go out to the backyard and pick the fruit, could not imagine all the growth problems explained in this book. My hubby always believed the blueberries grew so abundantly on this Island because of the sandy soil and, also, the moisture which is evident by the heavy dew every morning. The soil also has a lot of iron content. Burning the fields is often done in this area by commercial growers. I didn't see this mentioned in the book, but burning could be dangerous and may be prohibited in some areas. Periodically burning the bushes, by a controlled fire, would certainly help take care of pruning, some pests and diseases.;) In summary, Mr. Gough's book on blueberries certainly raised my awareness of all the aspects involved in blueberry management.

The book is very informative, providing me with information I was looking for, however some of the reference material dates back several decades. I was hoping that more current methods of plant maintenance & marketing would be included, nevertheless still a wealth of information on most topics. I would recommend this to anyone interested in starting a blueberry endeavor, or even considering one, which will give you an idea of what is involved and what to expect.

This book is loaded with information. As a novice to blueberries, I will be coming back to this book for years to come as my knowledge increases and hopefully as by bushes grow and produce.

A great book for starting out. Covers all aspects of growing blueberries. Just enough detail.