I am preparing to grow a hedge of evergreen huckleberries. I was looking for a plant that was evergreen, potentially 6ft+ tall, that made edible fruit, and could live in 7a. I found the evergreen huckleberry could grow that tall if it was growing in the shade. Does anyone have any advice on growing huckleberry in general, or for growing and planting it as a hedge? Any advice is appreciated from spacing to watering to soil prep. Thank you!
I’ve heard from a lot of people that evergreen huckleberries grow really slow. However, when I plant them I’ve always added a thick woodchip mulch around each and they have grown at a rather decent rate (except for in one spot where it’s hard, dry soil in scorching sun). Based on my experience, I’d say lots of mulch will help them become a hedge at the fastest rate, and a bit of fertilizer wouldn’t hurt either.
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I don’t know how fast they’d grow if I tried to take care of them…being brush around here they’re only watered with roundup and pruned with a bulldozer. They grow pretty good, tough as nails in some horrid, acidic clay and even great in ancient rock/tailings piles. So maybe they’ll do great with care? Larger plants do seem more common in shadier locations. The plants with the best berries I’ve found are in sunny locations (my favorite is a fairly small bush growing in nearly bare rock). Cut them hard and and they sprout back with 1-2 ft of growth from the rootball. Definitely makes a thick underbrush if you leave them alone for long enough.
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It will get taller more quickly in the shade, normally does not get dense enough for a privacy hedge, but after many years of shearing it can become dense. Shearing will reduce bloom and fruit. Remove some base shoots if they become too crowded. Individual plants take on random shapes if they are allowed to grow unpruned.
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Have you taken a gander at the feijoa yet?
Throw some worm poo at them and they take off. I love them
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Thank you! I plan to plant them right next to a 6ft tall fence (on its north side), which should keep them in shade hopefully until they get to at least 6ft tall. I plan to space them about 3.5ft apart.
Because I plan to grow so many other fruit producing plants, and so many huckleberry plants (it’s about 24 huckleberries, and 24 other fruit trees & shrubs) I don’t mind if they don’t have good or any fruit for the first couple years.
I want to eventually get to all the plants being a similar uniform shape and height. Would you agree I should prune the shoots that get really long, or only after the shoot reaches the desired height?
I would love to but I fear they may not be able to grow in zone 7a. I’ve read they are only good to 8.
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No. Don’t cut those. They are the best structural branches for adding sturdy height to the bushes. They may look long and spindly at first, but will push side branches in following years and fill out. For your purposes, during the establishment phase I’d probably only shorten branches which stick out too far sideways (if that even will be an issue in that spot, which it may not be).
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You’re a life saver! Thank you for the advice. When I get the plants (hopefully in April) I’ll make sure to post pictures of their progress.
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Your proposed spacing is fine. Probably going to be 5 years before much pruning is needed with those dimensions. Have patience with the fruits; berries should have turned black for several weeks before being ripe. Old timers advised that huckleberries were at their best after the first frost. They work well in baked goods if you remove the stems that often remain with the berry when picked.
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