We are going through the same thing here in Seattle. We found some bushes at our new house. Last year we had a decent crop but this winter I trimmed the bushes down and they are much fuller already this year than last. I watched a ton of videos but they were confusing as well.

The first thing I did was just locate all the dead branches and trimmed them off. Then I went back and removed all the ones with very few offshoots or that were just small and weak looking. Hopefully, someone will post some clear instructions on best practices. Good luck.

Thanks y’all!! I did read up on no nitrates for blueberries and so I make sure any fertilizer I use has none. I’ll stick with the miracid for them and buy some peat to put around the bushes as well. I‘m guessing the biggest ones are the ones that are the oldest. its got a lot of very woody canes.

my in laws had very old rabbit eyes that they never pruned maybe 12-15 ft tall. Half of them I cut flush to the ground half of them I left nurse branches as suggested above. I found it didn’t matter all 12 bushes suckered up like mad from the roots. This is in north Georgia

Keep in mind care of blueberries is going to vary a bit depending on the type in question, nothern high bush, southern high bush, rabbit eye, and of course low bush varieties. As to adding peat around an established blueberry bush I would not do it, though I use a mix of peat, pine bark and native soil in the planting holes when planting young blueberries. Instead I would suggest adding pine bark around the bases as mulch of the older bushes each year. In Mississippi pine bark will be MUCH cheaper than Peat and will also likely be more effective, I would guess around 1/5th of the price of Peat.

p.s. Miracid may not have enough Potassium for good blueberries, generally you want a fertilizer with a ratio of about 3-1-2 for Rabbiteye Blueberries, Miracid has a 3-1-1 ratio (30-10-10 actual), if you add straight Potassium source like fire place ashes, be careful as they are very alkaline and will tend to neutralize the acidic soil that Blueberries need. (Potassium is often responsible for fruit being sweet)

that‘s exactly how long these were before I pruned them. ’ll get some loppers and cut them when it’s time to.

I can do pine bark as well. That stuff is easy to get and cheap.

Shawntiah, I'm interested in how they are doing this year. I've got 3 overgrown bushes which my grandmother planted in the 1980s. Since I only spent summers here as a kid, I wasn't around to watch her tend to them and learn how to prune. I'm in Mobile Alabama and I'm reasonably sure they're rabbit eye type. I've gotten some guidance on how to prune, specifically for aged and overgrown bushes, and have plans to go for it this winter, probably in late December/early January (you folks in the northern areas, understand spring starts in late January here on the Gulf Coast). I don't expect to have many berries this year, but am hoping for bounty in 2021. Since your post is from last year, I'm really interested in hearing how yours are doing and whether or not you had a good crop this summer. Thanks in advance...