..of the first part. I had a remarkably prolific plant that had been growing for ... oh, maybe fifteen years. I'd planted in a mutual agreement with a long-gone neighbor, who apparently had more funds than motivation. He loved plants, but would gladly hire out the actual planting. Purchased a specimen dwarf red maple and paid the plant nursery people to come and dig the hole, put it in the ground for him.
So when he wanted to have blueberries, he said he would buy the plants if I would dig the holes for him. I did, and will readily report that I did a masterful job. The place where they went in the ground was hard red clay, and I dug really nice big holes, getting numerous loads of bright orange, rock solid chunks that are remarkably poor for growing anything. Then borrowed some really fertile rich soil from my little vegetable garden plot to fill the holes before putting the blueberry bushes in. Mulched, watered, tended, observed, fertilized, watched, cared-for, nurtured, enjoyed, trimmed, prolific producers.
But now, I think I am the reason for the demise. I read an article somewhere about how they thrive in acidic soil. And a helpful hint that a good way to make them Really Happy is to scatter used coffee grounds around the base of the plant. So I did. And apparently put 'way too much. Possibly a five gallon bucket full, that I took to church and asked the people who make enough coffee for about a thousand people to toss the used grounds in for me to recycle.
The one plant that was the amazing producer and would provide quarts and quarts of berries when it was in it's prime is slowly beginning to recover after struggling for a couple of years. I honestly thought it was dead. But saw a couple of little green shoots last summer and think it is making a genuine return from The Great Beyond. So I conclude that the coffee grounds were to blame and I admit to being the prime suspect, perpetrator of near demise.
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