Almost all of us love blueberries. Infused with many beneficial nutrients this sweet berry is something many people wish to grow in their area. When planted the bushy plant will fill your basket with fresh ripe fruits as well as treat your eyes with its white flowers.
But while planning to grow any plant, it’s important to know whether it will not make you regret it later. Especially, the invasive roots of many trees are enough to create problems as they have the tendency to invade the projects around.
You must have heard about aggressively grown tree roots disturbing walkways or damaging building foundations. So if you don’t want to face similar trouble with blueberries, you have to learn about the root system of this plant. And we’ve thoroughly discussed it here!
Blueberry Root System Explained
Blueberries have a shallow root system. The average depth of blueberry roots is 8-12 inches; the maximum depth is 16 inches. Blueberry roots are thin and they spread gradually without support. They are not invasive. Blueberries have three types of roots to provide the plant with water and nutrients.
While walking on the way near a garden or nursery, you sometimes might face uneven or zigzagged roads. It’s because of the roots. You heard it right. Tree roots that can grow faster, and deeper without sensing their roots are responsible for this kind of problem.
They are called invasive roots as they invade nearby places or property by spreading roots. Invasive roots are disturbing. They can damage properties, settings, even project foundations by getting in the way uninvited.
These types of roots are hard to control as their growth is faster and more aggressive.
If you were planning to grow blueberries just before you came to this discussion, we know you’re already giving another thought, whether grown blueberry roots will damage your properties too.
Well for your information, blueberry roots are not invasive. They are shallow and don’t go deeper than 12 or a maximum of 16 inches. They also grow and spread slowly without being aggressive.
Let’s see if these plants are invasive or not-
Blueberry ash:
Blueberry ash is an evergreen tree that’s flexible to grow. It is not invasive. The roots of blueberry ash are shallow and slow-growing. So if planted near a street or any property its roots will not go deeper and damage the projects.
Japanese blueberry:
Japanese blueberry is non-invasive. Its root doesn’t spread too far from the crown of the tree. Its roots lack depth and can hardly penetrate more than 10 inches deep.
Japanese blueberries are suitable to plant around parks, gardens that have streets, gas or water pipelines, or any construction foundation. The thin and shallow roots of Japanese Blueberry will not interfere with these.
Does Blueberry have deep roots?
No, blueberries have shallow roots. Its’ roots are usually 8 to 12 inches deep under the soil.
Blueberry is listed as one of the most loved berries. From skin to bones and heart, consumption of this blue fruit can keep a lot of health issues aside. Moreover, the blueberry plant is easy to grow so you can get these fruits freshly picked from your garden.
Since they don’t have deep and large roots, this plant is harmless to grow in any garden.
Blueberry is a bushy plant that grows best in moisture grounds having a good drainage system. The roots of blueberries are not long or deep enough. Because they have a shallow root system.
The roots of blueberries hardly go deeper in the soil. In most cases, the roots are 8-12 inches deep. But depending on the climate and plant type, the roots may penetrate 16 inches deeper. But they are mostly 10 inches deep.
Not only are the roots of the blueberry bush less deep, but they are also slow-growing. The bush grows really well as time passes, but its roots don’t spread that much because blueberry roots aren’t invasive.
How Deep Are Blueberry Roots?
Blueberry roots aren’t very deep. They are in general 8 inches to 12 inches long under the ground. Their roots are of little depth, unlike other shrubs. Blueberry roots belong to the shallow root system.
That means, they aren’t too long or large and don’t go too deep in the soil. Mostly the depth of blueberry roots is around 8-12 inches but it sometimes can penetrate 16 inches deep depending on the soil and climate type.
Blueberries grow as a bush. The roots of blueberries are fine and thin in texture. They are not invasive so you will not find the bush spreading aggressively over other plants in the garden.
Most of the time, 50 or 60% of the roots of this fruit plant remain near the crown, on the top foot off the ground.
Blueberry roots are grown all over the year. But their roots are always a less distance from the soil. However, despite having less depth the roots don’t fail to hold the plants even when it’s harvesting.
Blueberry plants never get deprived of essential nutrients or water due to the shallow roots as they can absorb and transport the food perfectly.
Do Blueberry spread or multiply?
Yes, the blueberry bush spreads and multiplies. They can propagate through cuttings, suckering, and seed methods.
However, blueberries don’t spread aggressively causing any harm to the other plants.
Blueberries are farmed a lot since they don’t put in too much effort to grow. Another reason gardeners get interested in blueberries is their ability to propagate easily and moderately.
Blueberries can spread through a suckering process where the new branches from roots and gradually get bigger.
Seeding is another way to multiply this fruit. It can happen naturally by the plants’ partial self-pollinating power or manually. Seeding can take at least 2-3 years to reproduce blueberries from seed.
Blueberry bush can get double or triple in numbers if you follow the cutting method. It’s comparatively faster as it may take 4 months to grow roots. However, by all methods, the spread of blueberries is slow since it’s not invasive.
Are Blueberry Roots Invasive?
Blueberry roots are not invasive. They don’t spread too much and so don’t invade.
Invasive roots are one that interferes with or invades its surrounding, specifically with the streets, walk-way, or important projects. Invasive tree roots are not welcome as they cause disturbance by their aggressive growth all around.
Blueberry is a non-invasive plant. It’s actually a bush smaller in size. It has a shallow root system. The average depth of blueberry roots is between 8-12 inches from the upper soil level.
In a few areas, especially where the soil is sandy, blueberry roots may go deep like 16 inches but the usual depth of their roots is 10 inches mostly.
But it doesn’t mean this berry doesn’t spread. It does and over time the bush gets bigger producing more fruits. But the growth of blueberry roots is very slow.
Moreover, because of the lack of depth of their roots, blueberries don’t go too deep in the soil.
Most of the time their roots are spread near the crown of the bush. Thus even while propagating this plant doesn’t spread aggressively in every direction.
So blueberry roots are not invasive, instead it’s shallow and slow-growing.
Can Blueberry roots damage foundation or pipes?
Being a non-invasive plant, blueberry doesn’t spread too aggressively in every direction nor does it penetrate deep into the soil more than 16 inches. So it will not damage the foundation or pipes installed nearer areas.
Invasive tree roots can spread around a large area, going deeper into the ground. These fast and aggressively grown roots interfere with the projects around such as pipelines, streets even building foundations.
But blueberries are non-invasive. It owns a shallow root system that doesn’t let the roots penetrate too deep into the soil. Blueberry roots are usually 8 to 12 inches far from their crown.
So there is no chance for this plant’s root to reach sideways or build a foundation unless they are planted in the wrong way.
Even if blueberry is grown near a building, its thin roots cannot harm the properties.
Final Thoughts
Blueberry is non-invasive. Their root system is shallow, usually having a depth of 8-12 inches in the ground. There are three kinds of roots in blueberries and they don’t spread roughly or too fast. Thus blueberry roots don’t interfere with any projects situated near the bush or cause any harm.